NH House Education Subcommittee Work Session on SB337, Part 2

"Relative to home education of children." Is there anyone other than bureaucrats supporting this? How many represented voters have expressed support? How many have expressed vocal opposition? How many homeschoolers equal one bureaucrat, anyway? Gotta be fractional, doesn't it?

I'm guessing the truant statist-authoritarian figured she already knows everything she needed to know, thank-you-very-much. Ask Jim Forsythe sometime about where she evidently believes rights come from. Prepare to shudder. And prod him to run for state office while you're at it, wouldja...? We don't need him in D.C.: it's a lost cause. We need him here.

Find a chronology of SB337 here (thanks, Chris). Executive Session scheduled for 10am, 5/6/2008. See ya there.

"Slight" of hands

"Outlaw Puppeteer" Dave Ridley threatens civilization as we know it -- indeed, the very fabric of society -- with unauthorized capitalistic (and very handsome, I might add) puppets. Chaos ensues. Nobody notices...

Pertinent links:
NH RSA 286;
Keene illegal gambling disregarded by law enforcement;
NHFree.com for updates, of course;
Dave's '07 legal "open carry" adventure;
And you can see a bit of House testimony on the legislative deadwood eradication bill, HB1347, to which Dave refers, at the end of this.

The Manifesto for Revolution

(there used to be a graphic for a Ron Paul "book bomb" above, for https://web.archive.org/web/20080706162957/http://www.ronpaulbookbomb.com/buy/amazon/...)

NH House Education Subcommittee Work Session on SB337

"Relative to home education of children." I think the Chair grasps it all fairly well at about 1:09:15. Coulda sworn that was the primary argument for removing the requirement 2 years ago, wasn't it? Results-based (of the education process, not of the rule-making process) assessment? What's changed since then? What's the existing problem we're trying to solve? Evidence, please, before "solutions." "No, no, no. Let's go Draconian, and dial it back only as forced." Who's the boss here, again...?

Here's a fun game: See if you can spot the unrepentant statist authoritarian. Two, actually, but the 2nd's more obscure. OK, so it's an easy game...

While we're on this subject (and I might attract a harmonic audience), any suggested additions for NH Mensa's Gifted Children and Homeschooling page are always appreciated by that site's Webmaster (who would be yours truly, as it turns out; as well as a Proctor, if you're curious about membership...).

The NH Senate takes on "decrim"

NH Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on HB1623, "marijuana decrim," 4/22/2008.

Some distress, some hope (surprisingly enough). Evidently, the Committee unanimously and perfunctorily ITL'd it anyway, as reported here. You might wanna ask NHPR why the audio archive isn't posted yet, as of 4/27...

So many lobbyists, The Movie

Video (finally) here. Commentary (still) here.

So many lobbyists...

... so profoundly full of shit, and/or simply profoundly -- and contentedly -- ignorant. Not that either condition stops them from pontificating, and endeavoring to control my life -- with my government's blessing -- of course. And me with so little capacity for mendacity tolerance. [Sigh...] If only they'd actually read the bill, HB686, they'd already know, just for example, that it's restricted to con-su-mer prod-ucts (and not, say, wholesale bulk drug containers for pharmacists to portion out). Unless, of course, they had read it, and just assumed the Senate Commerce Committee hadn't...

And btw, in case these people really don't grasp this, barcodes are a visual technology! I can see them! They're their own damned label! Try to hide them (without, say, modifying the entire infrastructure for UV or infrared, which I nevertheless already have technology capable of detecting). Go ahead. But why would you want to? And if they can print them, they can print an RF-friggin'-ID notice right next to 'em. Hell, the "absence" of color might even be cheaper to print. You know what to do... 4/15/2008

(The first-hearing-of-the-day "cigar bar" bill, Exec'd in the final 20 seconds of the video-to-come, clearly gave too much credit to the consumer, to his intelligence, put far too much "freedom" in "free market." It was ITL'd handily and perfunctorily. Interesting how we were warned in lobbyist testimony about implementing Draconian measures in requiring blanket "truth in advertising," but not a peep about continued Draconian "no exceptions" universal smoking bans on private property. I guess the first is about "my" business, and the second is about "yours." Funny how "principles" can be so... fluid. Yes, that's a 'Firefly' reference...)

Video to come, just as soon as Google figures out what's wrong with their Video Uploader. Damn. But I felt compelled to post this much. Check back later...

EDIT: Video now here.

Show 'em what a NH patriot is...

... At this point, it's even politically easy. OK, this is essentially a repeat, substantively embellished as it may nevertheless be. But as SB434 goes to the full NH House, it's important to "send the right message," right...?


To my Representatives,

NH is already in possession of an unrequested REAL ID "compliance extension." Nevertheless...

Multiple presidential candidates' passport files are breached by government contractors. This revelation, only the most recent similar, is kept hidden for months. Is this the level of security the federal government guarantees us for all the REAL ID "breeder documents" they demand be accessible to damned near everybody now, before "allowing" us the freedom to travel? I would direct your attention to the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution, which reserves authority over driver's licenses to the states, and to NH Part First, Article 7, which states (redundantly, it could easily be argued) that NH voters must first explicitly relinquish that authority, which, of course, we have not done.

I am vehemently opposed to a national ID card. For the security problems exposed yet again by the aforementioned presidential candidates' passport breach. For the massive and troubling fiscal, sovereignty, privacy, federal competency (or rather repeatedly stunning lack thereof), and even religious issues involved. I believe asking for an extension is "blinking." I believe it would say that we're working toward compliance. And that would be LYING, either to the feds or to the citizens of NH, who have worked very hard to keep NH out of any unconstitutional national ID scheme. A scheme, let's not forget, that somehow warranted far less Congressional debate than did steroids in baseball...

So why is this before you again? Because the arrogant NH Senate, in a headlong rush to beat Homeland Security's extension approval to the Governor's office, is sounding more and more like VP Cheney when asked about 2/3 of the people being against the war: "So?" So... I now honestly believe the Senate is more interested in pleasing the feds, and selling us out for chump change than listening to constituents and defending liberty.

This is -- increasingly -- the very definition of "no-brainer." NH citizens have already spoken on this issue. Why are we still talking about it? NH wants to retain her sovereignty, at least the little she has left. Please, despite the issue of any extension approval now being moot, send the NH Senate a strong message. Send D.C. a message. Please reject their latest attempt to sell us down the river. Please reject REAL ID. Again. With prejudice. Please reject SB434. (All of it, btw.)

Stand firm. This is not the time for complacency. Show them what a NH patriot is. The citizens of NH -- from whom even the feds are intended to take their marching orders -- have your back.

Dan Itse calls out the House

Why aren't they embarrassed? By special request of the orator, NH State Rep. Dan Itse's floor speech on HB1543, "relative to the citizen's petition for redress of grievances by the legislature," from 3/12/2008. February 5th's complete testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee can be seen here. March 12th's complete floor debate here, about 1:26:00 in.

One step closer to killing the Undead

Here's highlights from the NH House Science, Technology & Energy Committee's Executive Session on SB434 (which the NH Senate amended to try to get NH back into the REAL ID hunt). 1:15 worth of debate in about 0:24, from 4/1/2008. I'd hoped to get this posted last night, but with the first of spring's wind and thunderstorms, and much associated LAN and internet outage, not to mention gnashing of teeth and hurling about of cats and such...

It's stressed several times that the REAL ID amendment is dead, regardless, and will almost certainly be stripped out on the floor of Representatives' Hall. No one disagreed. As to the original bill, some members wanted to kill the whole thing, and recommend a clean bill be introduced next session. But others believed there had been too much work done on the nevertheless deeply flawed original portion, too many issues uncovered -- issues the Senate had somehow failed to see -- to simply ITL it, likely to make a different committee start over. Therefore, only 8-5 ITL. No additional amendments even voted on.

Last week's preceding public hearings can be seen here and here. More related video and commentary strewn about the place. Check the 'Frequent Topics' list for 'REAL ID'.

The full House will take up SB434 soon. Watch the House Calendar for its scheduling. And if you can't make it to the Gallery to observe in person, you can still play along at home or the office with the live online stream, or eventually the archive.

But before then, contact your NH Representatives. Ask them to support the Committee's ITL recommendation. Ask them (despite any extension requests now being a moot issue -- for the time being) to kill REAL ID. Again. No backsliding.