Thought You Had a Tax Cap? Think Again…

MORE LOCAL (central NH) NEWS- KEEP READING- IT’S PROBABLY HAPPENING WHERE YOU LIVE TOO…(*followup to this prior posting on the Laconia tax cap issue*) …Now that the Laconia “Broken Arrow” City Council is proceeding with preparations for a tax-cap breaking, new middle $chool building construction bond issuance, the options left for the already over-burdened taxpayers are few. Back in April and then in May, the Broken Arrows led by Mayor Matt Lahey started the ball rolling with the approval of “supplemental appropriations” to pay for engineering and associated costs of the multi- million dollar project. While those actions were apparently not in violation of November’s voter- approved tax cap by the letter of the law (according to the AG’s office, the tax cap applies only to NEXT year’s budget) requiring an actual vote to specifically “override,” they certainly went against the spirit. I’ll bet money that those voting for the cap expected a cap- now.
.
Moving forward with the spending commitment on a new middle school pitching the premise that new construction is cheaper than renovation, the Broken Arrow Council seems to have paid little heed to the City Manager’s forecast of future necessary tax cap- busting budgets even with NO new school being built. What will the hapless Laconia taxpayers do? The voters passed a tax cap and then elected big spending candidates who actively campaigned on an anti-tax cap platform with a promise of business as usual. With the manager’s dire predictions regarding upcoming budgets, the situation demands a radical alteration of how the city is conducting its operations.

Read more

Israel and Gaza (and now Lebanon)

Let’s see if I get this right.  The Palestinians, the poster children for victimhood (via great PR and gullible Westerners) got their way. The intifadahs were partially about having Israel get out of Gaza (legally captured as war spoils during the Israeli – Arab wars).  Israel blinked and gave in – they cleared out.  Gaza was finally in the hands of the Palestinians.  Peace broke out.

Right?

Read more

Facing the Face of Evil

The morning news tells us that Islamofascists in Iraq not only brutalized and killed two of our soldiers in June, they video taped the barbarous act.  Arab networks are running segments of this latest display of man’s inhumanity to man, this time against Pfc. Thomas Tucker and Pfc. Kristian Menchaca.  There seems to be an audience for that sort of thing among segments of the Muslim world.  For us civilians sitting safely at home in America, this act – and so many others like it – serve as a reminder of the nature of our enemy.  We should also be reminded – forcefully, constantly – that we have faced evil before, and that we once had the will to destroy it.

I wish that President Bush would address the county in prime time and give us a history lesson.  I wish he would use news reel footage and military reports from World War II to show the nation what it took to win a war against an evil, determined adversary.  In this address he would talk about the massive aerial bombings of European cities, the vicious combat on islands in the Pacific, the civilian casualties, the military casualties, the destruction of religiously-significant places, of loss of irreplaceable artifacts from our own culture.  He would explain why this destruction was required, and why our culture, our political philosophy, was worth defending in this manner.  Behind him on a big screen would be shown the fire bombings of Dresden, the destruction of Monte Cassino, Marines on Tarawa, and eventually the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Read more

Good answer, though

   Katie Couric, while interviewing a Marine sniper, asked:  What do you feel when you shoot a terrorist? The Marine shrugged and replied: "Recoil." ———————————————– Well, it looks like I did want to believe this one.  Since posting that earlier today, I have been advised to use an "Urban Myth" tag on this one.  However, … Read more

Claremont solved?

The legal fallout from the Claremont education funding edicts issued by the NH Supreme Court continues. Like the swallows returning to Capistrano and Massachusettes tourists returning to clog up our roads and restaurants here in the Lakes Region year after year, NH residents can count on some group of school districts suing the state for … Read more

Notable Quotes: Rumsfeld On Idealists And Cynics

"You may find people who will contend that patriotism is something to be a little bit embarrassed about or that honor is somewhat outdated as a notion and that concentrating on America’s imperfection makes you a realist. Not so. That’s the sign of a cynic. Being a cynic is easy. You can just sit back, … Read more

Notable Quotes: Daniel Webster on NH’s Old Man in The Mountain

"Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoemakers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but in the mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men."

How can we change our doctrine today?

From the LA Times, I just stumbled over this article discussing the meltdown of those Protestant denominations (the "mainline churches"). Much has been written here in NH, due to the ascendancy of Gene Robinson to bishop of the NH Episcopalian church (openly gay, recently admitted to a rehap facility for alcohol abuse). As an Evangelical Baptist, I have glumly watched, sometimes in horror, as these “high” churches (for their liturgical services) have changed their doctrines to suit the times and the norms of the public culture from their original doctrines of how to worship God. This is the last place (the LA Times), that I would have expected to see these liberal churches to come under fire.

The first paragraph is a great summary:

The accelerating fragmentation of the strife-torn Episcopal Church USA, in which several parishes and even a few dioceses are opting out of the church, isn’t simply about gay bishops, the blessing of same-sex unions or the election of a woman as presiding bishop. It also is about the meltdown of liberal Christianity.

 

 

 

Read more

When will we take them at their word?

Six nations have been "diplomatically engaged" for a couple of years with North Korea – with no success. The EU-3 (Britian, Germany, and France, and the US in the background) have been "diplomatically"engaged with Iran for a few years – with no success.   Frankly, Iran and N.K. have played them for fools.  When will the leaders finally wise up and admit that diplomacy, the end-all-be-all for most liberals, will not work in these cases?  Do we have to endure an "event" in order to get action? 

From Little Green Footballs, I just saw this:

At the two-day conference in Iran we noted earlier, attended by officials from Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the Islamic world to mobilize and wipe out Israel: Iran’s Ahmadinejad calls for ‘removal of Zionist regime’.

 

Read more

But who “paid” for the tax cuts?

Wait a minute, I thought tax cuts added to the deficit? What is this? The New York Times (THE NEW YORK TIMES!) is reporting today (Saturday, where all good news that might help Bush gets relegated) that An unexpectedly steep rise in tax revenues from corporations and the wealthy is driving down the projected budget deficit … Read more

Acknowledging the right way

During lunch, I do tend to surf a bit.  A number of the blogs that I read are reporting this news (hat tip to Powerline and the article here) about the New York Supreme Court decision just handed down.  What they just ruled on was that the New York State Constitution has no inherent right … Read more

This is the Religion of Peace?

The MSM (Main Stream Media) keeps harping that Islam is harmless, that most Muslims are not terrorists. While I agree that most are not, there are sufficient numbers to make it far more than troubling. Doug has been posting a few things about it, so I figured I’d chip in here a bit more. When I read about this from that failed state of Somalia where the Islamofascists have taken over, I thought that others might want to see it:

ISLAMISTS vowed to execute Muslims who skip prayers as they tightened their religious grip on the Somali capital Mogadishu and again Thursday rejected government calls for foreign peacekeepers.

Under an edict issued by a leading Mogadishu cleric, the five-times daily prayer required by the Koran will be enforced under penalty of death, a move that appears to confirm the hardline nature of the city’s Sharia courts.

"He who does not perform prayers will be considered as infidel and Sharia law orders that that person be killed," said Sheikh Abdalla Ali, a founder and high-ranking official in the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS).

At the opening of a new Islamic court in a southern Mogadishu neighborhood late on Wednesday, he added that it was the duty of every Somali to implement the provisions of Sharia law.

Read more

Spottings on 7/6/06

Gee, even the NEA thinks that "Simpler Spelling" is a bad idea (h/t Slashdot)  Wanna sleep on something different?  Gee, such a surprise!  Temperatures on Earth may be dependant on the Sun’s activity – D’oh!   Sorry, Al… Ann may be in trouble again, but not for her mouth  Although not Catholic, I’ve heard some stories … Read more

GraniteGrok FAQs and Policies

Ownership I am the sole owner of this blog. Given that, since we are doing this in order to be able to get our views out, everything you see here is retained as our intellectual (such as it is) property and we retain all rights / copyrights to all that material. We do not own any … Read more

Dope of the week: NYC Mayor Bloomberg

The list of so-called "Republicans" from New York who hack me off has long included NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg. In a contest for the worst between him and Gov. Pataki, I’m not sure who I would pick. This week, it’s the mayor. The AP reports on July 5th that Bloomberg, testifying before a Senate committee, said … Read more

Patriotism (or not) on 7/4/06

I read a lot of blogs pretty much most days.  This entry from Thomas Sowell caught my eye, and while it is talking mostly about the NYT and the lack of concern / the overabundance of hubris, for me the money quote is this:

Patriotism is not chic in the circles of those who assume the role of citizens of the world, whether they are discussing immigration or giving aid and comfort to the enemy in wartime.

The decline and fall of the Roman Empire was as much due to the internal disintegration of the ties that bind a society together as to the assaults of the Romans’ external enemies.

The pride of being a Roman citizen was destroyed by cheapening that citizenship by giving it to too many other people. The sense of duty and loyalty eroded among both the elites and the masses.

Without such things, there could be no Roman Empire. Ultimately, without such things, there can be no United States of America. In neither case have tangible wealth and power been enough to save a country or a civilization, for the tangibles do not work without the intangibles.

In my mind’s eye, true Patriotism is putting your country ahead of any other.  Patriotism is fully believing in the ideals and potential of your country to the exclusion of others, and willing to make a stand for those beliefs even when unpopular. And Patriotism is willing, when and if necessary, to put your country ahead of your needs.

That is not to say that the ills of your country are swept under the rug; nay, one works to correct those ills.  However, while doing so, one advances, publicizing and dissemimates the positives. 

 

Read more

Party Pooper

From Treehugger – I have a couple of "environmental" blogs that I read.  Why?  I do believe that we should and can be able to use other technologies utilizing alternative energy sources.  For instance, my former house had "active" solar hot water and space heating to conserve and cut my energy bill.  My current house … Read more

What would you expect – loonies acting looney

North Korea is trying to join in the fireworks displays for the 4th.  Sad to say, however, this is no joyous occasion but very serious.  Now we have a certifiable mad man lighting off rockets that can potentially hit both Japan and the US’s West Coast. I wish I could just leave it at that.  … Read more

Yup, I would consider this unpatriotic

There are those Americans out there on the ‘Net that REALLY don’t like this country. For them, instead of being in celebratory mood (as it is Independence Day – 1), this just gives them another rant for the day. What an unhappy way to go through life….never seeing the positive for the negative.  Hat tip: … Read more

A need for Patriotism

Independence Day

This past Saturday, I attended the One Voice (www.onevoiceministries.org) Celebrate America! concert – an old fashioned patriotic celebration whose theme was “America – my home” and standing with our Founders on the premise that it is God who has so blessed our Nation. Seeing the flags and listening to the songs, I was stirred to put away my “working” column for this instead. I realized, once again, how fortunate we are to live in this great country, warts and all. There is no perfect place; even America has its bad with the good. Yet because some constantly dwell only on the negative, they believe it overwhelms that goodness. And I am tired of taking it on the chin because of it!

Nativist, xenophobe, bigot, unsophisticated – pejoratives used by those who consider outward displays of affection for our country as beneath them (especially those that besmirch it)

 

Read more

Share to...
BufferCopyFlipboardHacker NewsLineLinkedInMastodonMessengerMixPinterestPrintRedditSMSTelegramTumblrVKWhatsAppXingYummly