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GraniteGrok

Will people of Faith stand up to defend that Faith?

The beginning of this extremely well done video lays out the call to Catholics to help protect their faith and their values:

In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. This generation of Catholics must do the same.

Now I am an evangelical Protestant, not Catholic, so there are theological points on which we will never agree upon.  That said, I believe that there is a message here for Bible believing Christians who take their faith seriously and personally (i.e., not a “back row Baptist” or a “country club Christian”) as well as to Catholics.  I do believe that Obama, as with many Progressives, see a personal faith as being a hindrance to implementing Bigger Government -they realize that in order to have fealty to government, there must be no nothing “above” Government.

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And so it begins – resisting religious tyranny

Obama - shows more deference to Islam in Afghanistan than to First Amendment freedom for religion here in the USAlthough the political conversation over the last week or so has been Obama’s personal redefinition of what traditional marriage is, let’s not forget that he and HHS Secretary Sebelius decided that they were after yet another “First” – the First Administration that felt they had the authority to redefine what a religious organization is or could be.  Function as a house of worship (for now)?  “There was an exception for that!” with respect for the supremacy of the Right to Conscience – although the HHS mandate required that all health plans for employees provided for abortions, abortifacients, sterilizations, and birth control.

But if you are a religious outreach or ministry of some type (e.g., halfway house, hospital, educational, soup kitchen – anything that demonstrated a caring for the poor, the downtrodden, or the needy), even if connected to a House of Worship, Obama and Sebelius decided that they could decide that you were NOT a religious organization for their means.

As the cartoon shows (sent by Grok friend Karen a bit ago), we see exactly what Obama thinks of the First Amendment:

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Internet Doodlings – “meanwhile, back over at Treehugger…”

Yeah, back there again.  While the name connotes an environmental bent (which it does), there is enough there to start proving “Green on the outside, Red on the inside”.  Or at a minimum, think the Nanny State with Nurse Ratched looking back at you.  Doubt me?  Loyal reader C. Dog e. dog seems to be lately frequenting those haunts as well – it does give one a chance to raise one’s game a bit.  Anyways, there’s this post complaining about our latest epidemic, obesity, and that the Government HAS to do something – Corporations through small children are forcing parent to buy junk food (or something…):

One of the recommendations intended to speed things up is for the food industry to “take broad, common, and urgent voluntary action to make substantial improvements” to marketing aimed at kids. This is certainly important, as advocates have for years been sounding the alarm about the intractable problem of junk food marketing to children and its connection to poor health. But another part of the IOM dictate sounded vaguely familiar:

If such marketing standards have not been adopted within two years by a substantial majority of food, beverage, restaurant, and media companies that market foods and beverages to children and adolescents, policy makers at the local, state, and federal levels should consider setting mandatory nutritional standards for marketing to this age group to ensure that such standards are implemented.

And this:

“Congress should enact legislation mandating” a shift in advertising. Also, that “[w]ithin 2 years the Secretary [of health] should report to Congress on the progress and on additional actions necessary to accelerate progress.”

 Well, I couldn’t let that go by….

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HB 1704 – Republicans doing the dirty work by resurrecting HassanSpeech? Part 3

Heh! Update before posting:  If you go down 1/3rd of the post to where I discuss lines 25-26, 28-29 you can see that even if the IRS codes would not require Donors / Contributors information, this amendment will require it.  Now add this info:

TUESDAY, MAY 15, UPDATE: CROSSROADS ON THE AIR. Crossroads GPS, a nonprofit self-described issues advocacy group that works in conjunction with the pro-Republican Super PAC American Crossroads, is planning political advertising in New Hampshire.

…The Granite Status has learned that Crossroads GPS will air at least two ads on WMUR television beginning later this week and at least into the middle of next week at a cost of at least $75,000.

 While American Crossroads, as a Super PAC, must disclose its donors, Crossroads GPS as a 501 (c)(4) nonprofit, does not.

This Amendment would force that.  What actually would happen is that they wouldn’t participate in NH.  That is chilling of “freedom of speech”.

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Project Veritas – “Can Illegal aliens vote in North Carolina?” Er, that would be a yes

James O’Keefe’s  Project Veritas has done another Voter Fraud video – this time in the State where the Democrat National Convention will be – North Carolina!  How fitting, as it always seems that Democrats are the one who could care less who is voting (or how often – it’s the Chicago way!).  I just keep wondering how long it will take before the illustrative theater of the absurd will finally start to sink in – and even with that, it IS absurd that the government workers can’t accept that if something is that absurd looking, they are being punked.  But, that’s the problem with “seams” or boundary conditions and folks who are “just doing the job” – both them and the “system” can easily be exploited.

Here is the supporting info for this North Carolina activities (entire video, the research paperwork).

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Obama – really pandering

I think this, by Rameriz, says it better than this earlier one; this requires no “evolvement” I guess it is true, what they say about some politicians…. (H/T: Hot Air)

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

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

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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Op-Ed by Carolyn McKinney (Chair, RLCNH) “The Legislature must reestablish its place above the courts”

The Legislature must reestablish its place above the courts
By Carolyn McKinney, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire.

While many in Concord are clamoring over language for an educational-funding constitutional amendment (CACR 12), what’s being lost in the final debate of the 2011-2012 session is a constitutional amendment proposal far more important to the people of New Hampshire as they work to regain control of their government.

CACR 26, a constitutional amendment proposal that would remove the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court’s rule-making authority by repealing Part 2, Article 73-a of the constitution, is probably the most important effort still up for consideration this year. By passing CACR 26 and repealing Article 73-a, the Legislature, which is directly elected by the people each biennium, would regain sole authority to write the laws, rules and general policies of the state as our founders intended.

Since 1978, when Article 73-a was adopted under a description of the measure that called it a “housekeeping effort,” the language has given the Supreme Court the power to write court rules that have “the force and effect of law.” This language has severely upset the balance of powers in government to the benefit of the unelected five-member Supreme Court. Since 1978, the court has been using the language of Article 73-a to order the Legislature and the people of this state around, in effect creating the likes of an old-world oligarchy.

Making this analogy far too real is the language in Article 73-a that says the Chief Justice of the N.H. Supreme Court is “the administrative head of all the courts.” Because the Legislature is known in the Constitution as the “General Court,” some have interpreted Article 73-a as a constitutional change that gives the Supreme Court and the other courts it controls unrestrained authority over the Legislature, and by extension, the people. Such an understanding is intolerable in a free Constitutional Republic and it is also inconsistent with the rest of the N.H. Constitution, which makes CACR 26 that much more important to pass.

The court originally advocated for Article 73-a as a way to control the internal procedures of the courtroom, but it has since used the language to go much further than that.

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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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