Vol. CCLVII, No. 1 October 5, 2012
The New Hampshire Gazette
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The Fortnightly Rant
Picking the Slate For Us More than 1.3 million people live in New Hampshire, and 460,000 of them voted in the 2010 election. That election produced the most radical Right Wing majority ever seen in the State House. But, according to some, it was not radical enough. So, two men are doing their best to push the State House even further to the Right — even though they’ve never lived here. The two are brothers: David and Charles Koch. David lives in New York, and Charles lives in Wichita. They can afford to spend their money making our state government more radical because they’ve got plenty of it — more than most of us can even comprehend. Fat City State New Hampshire is the nation’s 6th most prosperous state, with a per capita income of $31,422, according to the Census Bureau. Roughly speaking, then, the total annual income of all New Hampshire residents is about $58.1 billion. David and Charles Koch are worth more than that. Forbes estimates their wealth to be about $31 billion each. And Koch Industries, their privately-held company and the second-largest in the country, has annual revenues of another $100 billion — more than $190,000 every minute of the year. Who Built That? The Koch brothers were born on home plate and think they’re Babe Ruth. Harry Koch, their grandfather, was a Dutch immigrant who must have had a few resources himself. He founded the Quanah (TX) Tribune-Chief in the 1890s, and
shortly thereafter helped found the Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway. Harry put his son Fred C. Koch through MIT, where he earned a degree in chemical engineering. In 1927 Fred, a clever lad, figured out a better way to turn oil into gasoline. The oil giants of the day resented competition from the upstart and tried to bury Fred’s company, Winkler-Koch, under a mountain of lawsuits. Eventually Fred prevailed in court, but the litigation made it impossible for the company to work in the U.S. for a time — so he turned to the Soviet Union. The U.S.S.R. paid Winkler-Koch millions to build 15 oil-cracking plants and train their operators. When the contract was completed in 1933, Koch returned to the U.S. with half a million dollars in ready cash. With that sum he built a small empire. Stalin had liquidated about 7 million Ukrainians while Koch was developing the Soviet Union’s oil industry, but Koch did not publicly condemn Communism until the late 1950s. Then he made up for lost time, helping to found the John Birch Society and funding other Right Wing causes. Apologists for the Koch brothers love to point out that their company has grown a thousand times larger since Fred’s death in 1967. But can anyone who inherited a company with 100 million 1950 dollars in revenue truly claim, “I built that”? Their Most Important Product Wikipedia provides a list of Koch’s thirteen primary products, from asphalt and chemicals to natural gas, plastics, petroleum, and paper. But the online encyclopedia left out one of the brothers’ most
important products: propaganda. Why is it so important? Because next to lobbying, propaganda provides the highest available return on investment. Lobbying is the process of telling legislators what you want. Propaganda is a tool for getting receptive legislators. The Koch brothers have a long history of funneling some of their excess income — which might otherwise be wasted by Uncle Sam — into “charitable” organizations such as Americans for Prosperity, which they founded in 2003, and its predecessor, Citizens for a Sound Economy, which they founded in 1984. Americans for Prosperity [AFP] claims to be “an organization of grassroots leaders who engage citizens in the name of limited government and free markets on the local, state, and federal levels.” In fact, AFP is a top-down outlet for dispensing Koch propaganda. It happily accepts donations from deluded wage-slaves
but most of its funding comes from the Kochs. AFP’s State Director for New Hampshire is Corey Lewandowski, last seen in these pages on June 29th whining about the anonymity of the donor who reimbursed Durham for the cost of President Obama’s visit in June. We’ll let Zandra Rice Hawkins, Executive Director of Granite State Progress, take it from here: “According to the Secretary of State’s website, the group The New Hampshire Advantage Coalition, which was previously led by New Hampshire Republican political operative Mike Biundo and others, closed down on February 15, 2011. Less than a year later Corey Lewandowski, State Director of Americans for Prosperity… filed new paperwork to re-open the organization. Lewandowski and the Koch brothers used the group as a vehicle for attack ads against pro-worker House candidates in tight primaries, heavily attacking the candidates, their policies and
their very character.” Granite State Progress compiled a list of fourteen moderate Republican candidates it believes were targeted by The New Hampshire Advantage Coalition for not being Right Wing enough to meet the Koch brothers’ standards. Half of them — Todd Weeks, Peter Bolster, William Remick, Russell C. Day, Tony F. Soltani, David A. Welch, and Julie Brown — were defeated in the Primary by candidates further to the Right. Misery Hates Company And it’s not just here — we’re not that special. The Washington Post’s T.W. Farnam reported on Monday that AFP is “fully engaged in … local issues and races in 35 states, with a $100 million budget that is three times the 2010 figure.” But look on the bright side: if state legislatures across the country are even crazier in their next sessions than they were in the last, at least we’ll know whom to thank.
decided to close it at 10 p.m. in order to evict the Occupy Movement’s nonviolent general assembly. Eight members of the Veterans Peace Team and two members of Occupy Faith were arrested for refusing to leave. Since that day, a small metal sign has been posted at the park stating that it closes at 10 p.m. This October 7th, the veterans have a permit for sound equipment lasting until 10 p.m., but they intend to remain overnight. “At 9:30 p.m. participants will lay flowers for the fallen. “Speakers at the vigil will oppose a single additional day of U.S. warmaking in Afghanistan. Speakers will include Leah Bolger, Margaret Flowers, Glen Ford, Mike Hastie, Chris Hedges, George Packard, Donna Schaper,
Kevin Zeese, and Michael Zweig. Dr. Cornel West has also been invited. “Vietnam vet Paul Appell says, ‘War veterans, loved ones of the fallen, and certainly those living in war zones do not have the option of closing down their memories at 10 p.m. There is a good reason why suicide is an attractive option for many. It is truly the only sure way of ending the memories. For a memorial to shut down at some convenient time for the city is an insult to all those who do not have the luxury of shutting down their war memories at a specific time. I know that many want us war vets to go out of sight and not bother them, except when we are needed for some parade. Some of us are not going away at 10 p.m. or any other time. If they do not like it,
maybe they should have thought of that before they sent us to war.’ “Tarak Kauff, U.S. Army, 19591962, Veterans For Peace Board member and one of the organizers of VFP’s Veterans Peace Team, says, ‘We will be there standing together and if necessary getting arrested again for our right to remember the fallen, to oppose and ‘abolish war as an instrument of national policy,” and to affirm our right to do so in a public place of remembrance that has great meaning for all veterans.’ “The plan is not for a mass demonstration. In fact, many are explicitly not invited. Non-veterans are enthusiastically welcome, including associate members of
News Briefs
Well, Someone Noticed … No one else seemed inclined to take notice, so we turn to Veterans for Peace, which sent the following communiqué in observance of the impending start of the 12th year of the Afghan War: “Dedicated and disciplined nonviolent military veterans are planning a peaceful vigil in New York City that will as likely as not result in their wrongful arrest and prosecution. “The time will be 6 p.m. on October 7, 2012, as the United States and NATO complete the eleventh year of the current occupation of Afghanistan and launch the twelfth. The crowd at the Republican National Convention cheered for complete immediate withdrawal, but the nominee’s plans don’t include it. The crowds at rallies for President Obama’s
reelection cheer for both the continuation of the war and its supposed status as ‘ending,’ even though the timetable for that ‘ending’ is longer than most past wars, and a massive occupation is supposed to remain after the occupation ‘ends.’ Veterans For Peace, an organization dedicated to the abolition of war, is hoping to inject a discordant note into this happy discourse — something that the ongoing reports of deaths just don’t seem to manage. “The place will be Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza, 55 Water Street, New York City. It was there that some of the same veterans gathering this October were arrested last May First. The memorial is normally open around the clock, but on that day the New York Police Department
News Briefs to page two
Page 2 - The New Hampshire Gazette - Friday, October 5, 2012
News Briefs from page one Veterans For Peace and anyone else dedicated to ending violence in the world. But ‘diversity of tactics’ is unapologetically rejected. Anyone inclined toward violence, provocation, or threats, including violence to inanimate objects, is kindly asked on this day to respect the Memorial, the veterans, and the commitment to nonviolence. This event will involve hundreds of activists who intend to peacefully vigil all night, and who will not respond to police violence with any violence of their own. There is a website for more information at StopTheseWars.org. “Veterans For Peace was founded in 1985 and has approximately 5,000 members in 150 chapters located in every U.S. state and several countries. It is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization recognized as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)
by the United Nations, and is the only national veterans’ organization calling for the abolishment of war.” Our Local Aristocracy Parents of Portsmouth girls who watch Downton Abbey and dream of marrying into British aristocracy should under no circumstances allow their daughters to view the exhibit opening today at the Portsmouth Athenæum. The exhibit, “Downton Abbey: The Portsmouth Connection,” will only encourage those romantically-minded fantasies — because such things have been known to happen. Portsmouth’s own Catherine Tredick Wendell married the 6th Earl of Carnarvon in 1922 and lived until 1936 at Highclere castle, the setting for the awardwinning PBS series. “It’s just an incredible leap,” exhibit curator Ronan Donohoe says of Catherine. “This 23-yearold girl born in Kittery, Maine, is
A two-man squad from LaRouchepac.com visited Market Square on Monday afternoon demanding the impeachment of President Obama. Our Wandering Photographer attempted to grill these gentleman about their leader, 90-year old Rochester native and international man of mystery Lyndon LaRouche, but could not break through a surly monologue about a massive public works project that would reverse the flows of the Mackenzie and Yukon Rivers and deliver their waters as far south as Mexico. These communications difficulties notwithstanding, the LaRouchePac website maintains that, “Lyndon LaRouche and LaRouchePAC are what stand between you and an otherwise inevitable collapse of civilization.” So we’re screwed. 427-2919
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suddenly in charge of a 300-room house and its elaborate and complex social gatherings.” The Wendells had homes in Kittery and Portsmouth as well as Frostfields, a mansion on New Castle Common. Catherine was only 11 when her father Jacob died, and her mother moved her and her three siblings to England to be near a beloved cousin. “The two daughters of the family both married earls and became countesses,” Donohoe said. Donohoe was watching an episode of the extremely popular “Masterpiece Classic” period drama when he realized the family was the same one whose correspondence he had read years earlier, when the Athenæum received 100 boxes of correspondence from the Wendell family. Donohoe helped catalog the letters, which date back to the 1700s. “I found a lot of the correspondence wildly amusing and interesting,” he said. “The part I liked most was the early 20th-century
stuff about a Wendell that had married, gone to England, become the 6th Countess of Carnarvon and lived in a castle outside London.” That castle turned out to be Highclere, which Donohoe said likely resembles the Houses of Parliament because they share the same architect, Sir Charles Barry. Donohoe said Catherine became the Countess a year after her marriage. Her father-in-law, the 5th Earl, died only a year after discovering the tomb of King Tut. “Downton Abbey: The Portsmouth Connection” will feature about 60 family photos, including the 5th Earl and his adventures in Egypt, as well as a stunning portrait of Catherine in a flapperstyle dress. “They all look exactly the way they should look,” Donohoe said of the family. “Central casting couldn’t have sent you a better cast of characters.” It will also include photos of
Highclere and relevant Portsmouth, Kittery and New Castle residences, along with family letters from and about Highclere. The free exhibit at the nonprofit membership museum and library founded in 1817 will run through Dec. 1. The Athenæum exhibit, at 9 Market Square, is open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 1 to 4 p.m. An opening reception for the exhibit will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5. For more information, go to www.portsmouthathenæum.org or call (603) 4312538. A Scandalous Addendum The preceding story is brimming with glamour; a corresponding item published last October in the Daily Mail adds a touch — well, buckets — of scandal. The article asserted that Catherine’s father-in-law, the 5th Earl of Carnavon, was syphilitic and incapable of fathering a child, and that the 6th Earl’s true father was probably Prince Victor
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Duleep Singh. Singh was the 5th Earl’s lifelong best friend, who spent years living at Highclere and brought Carnavon to the establishment where he contracted syphillis. Not-Made-Up News In an interview conducted shortly before he left office, George W. Bush said his plan was to “replenish the ol’ coffers.” And he has certainly done that. The Center for Public Integrity reported in May of 2011 that Bush had collected about $15 million by giving speeches for a fee upwards of $100,000. Among the entities paying for Bush’s eloquence were the Swiss bank UBS, which paid a $780 million penalty to duck a tax evasion charge from the Justice Department, and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, which paid a $225 million settlement of a class action lawsuit filed by people who lost millions due to its shoddy auditing of Tyco International. Early next month, Bush will surpass those examples of inappropriateness by delivering the keynote address at the Cayman Alternative Investment Summit, to be held at the Ritz-Carlton on
Grand Cayman November 1st and 2nd. Tickets are just $4,400 if you hurry and register before October 15th. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a video clip of Bush #43 making reference to Mitt Romney’s money, though. “The sessions will be videotaped,” according to organizers, “and selections from the sessions will be available on our website after the conference … [but A]bsolutely no personal photographs or audio/visual recording is permitted.” Tour Town’s Oldest Cemetery Dr. Neill De Paoli and Wendy Pirsig will lead a guided tour entitled “Spirits of Old Fields Burying Ground: Legends and History” in South Berwick on Saturday, October 13 at 1:00 p.m., rain or shine. South Berwick’s oldest community cemetery, dating to the 1600s, is part of the “Old Fields” area that was once the center of town. A meetinghouse stood nearby, and many people earned their livelihood at sawmills on the Great Works River and shipyards on the Salmon Falls River. “Of all the old spots in old Berwick, this cemetery is the place
Old Fields Burying Ground on Vine Street is the oldest community cemetery in South Berwick, Maine, and dates to the 1600s. The Old Berwick Historical Society is presenting a free public program, “Spirits of Old Fields Burying Ground: Legends and History,” at the cemetery on Saturday, October 13th, at 1:00 p.m. Photo courtesy of Old Berwick Historical Society.
© 2012 by Dan Woodman
where the spirits of the earliest pioneers can perhaps be most strongly felt today,” said De Paoli, who has been leading an archaeology dig on a property nearby. “This shaded hillside, overlooking Leigh’s Mill Pond beyond the trees, is the burial place of many settlers, including very likely the Spencer, Goodwin and Chadbourne families.” Mehitable “Hetty” Goodwin was the daughter of Salmon Falls mill owner Roger Plaisted, who had been killed with two sons in an Indian raid of 1675. After her marriage, she was captured with her baby in another raid. The famous Puritan minister Cotton Mather used her story in Boston to illustrate atrocities at the hands of the French and Indians, one of whom “violently snatch’d the babe out of its mother’s arms, and before her face knock’d out its brains.” She managed to survive and was carried to Quebec and married to a Frenchman, with whom she had two children, but after five years was ransomed by the English and returned home. Following the cemetery tour, the Historical Society invites participants to visit its Counting House
Museum at Main and Liberty Street. The museum is open on Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 to 4:00 pm through the end of October. Admission is free. More information on the society’s programs is available by calling (207) 384-0000. Their website www. oldberwick.org includes write-ups on five South Berwick historic cemeteries and a database of over 7000 graves. Yogi Was Right … … it’s not over until it’s over. Ever since he went to London ten weeks ago to watch his wife’s horse dance, Mitt Romney’s Presidential campaign has suffered hit after self-inflicted hit. Then a video turned up showing the candidate talking to a roomful of people eating something they’d paid $50,000 a plate for. At that price it must have been filet of unicorn. When he said that 47 percent of the voters are lazy bums, it sounded like the end was near. When you have so little left to lose, and you have the White House and the next thirty years worth of Supreme Court decisions to gain, you might as well shoot the moon. So the Romney
campaign yanked out the candidate-bot’s old logic board and memory chip, plugged in the most advanced replacements available, and turned it loose in Denver. Seriously. What, you thought Eric Fehrnstrom was kidding with that Etch A Sketch™ line? To the new, DenverLogic® version of Romney, facts are like money, in that they are fungible — individual units have equal value, and they all are capable of being substituted for one another. The circuitry of the DenverLogic® Romney also renders it unable to distinguish between a debate moderator and a piece of furniture; but that’s a feature, not a defect. Eliminating distractions like moderators and whatever the candidate-bot might have said last month or that morning allows it to barge forward with whatever outlandish claim may have yielded the best results in front of the latest focus group. Releasing the DenverLogic® Romney into the wild was a desperate measure which carries a two-pronged risk. If it works, it takes over the free world. And if facts matter, it turns into a boomerang.
Page 4 - The New Hampshire Gazette - Friday, October 5, 2012
Obama’s Foreign Policy To the Editor: Claims that President Obama’s foreign policy is successful are only explained by partisanship or by criteria putting others ahead of our country and our citizens. President Obama killed Osama, other al Qaeda leaders, and successfully implemented the Bush plan for leaving Iraq. Congratulations! But, doesn’t killing innocents via drone strikes and maintaining Guantanamo create more terrorists than they eliminate like Senator Obama, and others, said under Bush? Despite nearly twice as many American deaths in Obama’s 43 months as under Bush and President Obama’s withdrawal date announcement, we seem no closer to achieving a stable independent Afghanistan. The “Arab Spring” has not improved the stability and peacefulness of the Middle East or safety for Americans. The Muslim Brotherhood that the administration described as peaceful and secular has shown itself to be an antiAmerican radical group dedicated to Sharia, a Muslim Caliphate, oppression of non-Muslims, and the destruction of Israel. President Obama’s administration can’t even tell us if Egypt is an ally, which it was before Obama supported the “Arab Spring”. Despite the approach of 9/11 and several warnings of planned attacks, our Embassies were not put on heightened security. In
Egypt our Embassy was overrun by people chanting, “Obama, we are all Osamas.” People that Obama helped [to] “liberate” Libya killed our ambassador and three other Americans. Has President Obama delivered on his naïve, arrogant statement that “Muslim hostilities will cease the day I am inaugurated?” No. President Obama won’t meet with our strongest ally in the Middle East although Israel is facing threats from a nuclear arming Iran. President Obama affronted our most faithful ally, Great Britain, withdrew anti-missile support from European allies, and made our traditional allies wonder about our country’s dedication to our historic alliances. President Obama befriends countries that want to reduce American security, prosperity, freedoms, and influence in the world. Would Russia, Venezuela, Iran, etc., support us, if needed, to help protect our values, prosperity, and freedoms? No, they would take advantage of our weakness. What does it suggest when President Obama says, “Tell Vladimir (Putin) that I’ll have more flexibility after my re-election?” What is he hiding? If we would like his plan, he would reveal it. President Obama reads great speeches from a teleprompter, but his foreign policy is dangerous; it has strengthened our enemies, weakened our nation, and made the world much more dangerous for our country, our citizens, and our allies. If you want the American people to be poorer, less safe, and less free, then President Obama’s foreign policy is successful. President Obama’s promise to Vladimir means his policies will be even more damaging to Americans in a second term. Don Ewing Meredith, NH Don: We just listened four times to the
audio clip which is the basis of the Right Wing claim that President Obama once said, “Muslim hostilities will cease the day I am inaugurated.” Then-Senator Obama was talking to NHPR’s own Laura Knoy on November 21, 2007. We can assure you that Senator Obama did not say what you and the Breitbart clones claim he said — it was the “Barack Obama” in your head who said that. The Editor § Support Veterans Court To the Editors: If an Afghanistan War veteran is convicted of a crime committed due to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Rockingham County, she will lose her VA health, educational and home loan benefits. As an Iraq War combat veteran who relied on the GI Bill to get ahead, I can’t imagine having been denied my VA benefits. Rockingham County should establish New Hampshire’s first Veterans Court to rehabilitate veterans before their convictions result in lost VA benefits. Veterans Courts are a hybrid drug and mental health court that provide intensive rehabilitative treatment for veterans in the criminal justice system suffering from PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), substance abuse, military sexual trauma, or psychological problems stemming from their military service. A board of stakeholders from the County Attorney’s Office, the Court, the Veteran’s Administration, Probation, and Community Corrections would determine a veteran’s eligibility and oversee her progress. Accepted participants would be assigned a volunteer veteran mentor throughout the regimen of regular court appearances, drug treatment and testing. Charges would be reduced or dismissed upon successful completion. The first Veterans Court, developed in 2008, boasts a perfect graduate recidivism rate and almost a hundred more Veterans
Mash Notes, Hate Mail,
Courts have developed across the country since. Joe Plaia, a Marine and Rockingham County Attorney candidate, has made creating a Veterans Court a priority and is promoting one to VFWs and Legions across the county. Help returning veterans that need help get it and not loose their hard earned VA benefits. Vote Joe Plaia for Rockingham County Attorney. Josh Denton Portsmouth, NH § Hands Off My Obama Sign To the Editor: My Obama sign has now been ripped down twice from its post. This election is an important election. In order to make the best choices, you must keep an open mind and do a little research. A friend of ours stated that she did not want to watch the Democratic Convention, because she was afraid that it would change her mind. Perhaps we will get lucky and she will watch the debates, but then again, this might only result in her voting for who she believes is telling the truth. It is possible to become an informed voter by simply doing a little web-surfing now and then. For example, if someone on Facebook posts a statement against a candidate, then double-check that comment by using a search engine. Search results will most often provide statements from dependable news sources that will prove or disprove the Facebook statement. One of my sisters posted a “news feed” that “30 million people will have to pay an additional $1200 in taxes because of ObamaCare.” A few keywords placed into a search engine resulted in the fact that 98 percent of the 30 million will not have to pay any additional taxes, because their tax bracket will not be high enough.
Other Facebook comments included that Romney “never had any bankruptcies with Bain,” and that “he had not joined Bain until after the leveraged buyouts.” When double-checking these claims, they also turned out to be bogus. Romney was very much at the heart of these unethical business practices. We are just the ignorant masses if we just vote either Democratic or Republican, for whom we like, or for whom we trust. Never more so than today, is it easy to become an informed voter, and please don’t touch my sign! Donald Brown Deerfield, NH § Today’s Republican Party To the Editor: Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister, one of few world leaders able to boast his country had avoided recession during the global financial crisis, said in a speech in Sydney, “Let’s be blunt and acknowledge the biggest threat to the world’s biggest economy are the cranks and crazies that have taken over the Republican Party.” He also labeled the Tea Party wing of the Republicans as “extreme.” Former Governor Charlie Crist might offer this insight.“I changed sides to President Obama. It’s an intensely personal choice. So much negativity …. Who wants to live a life filled with hate? If the Republicans had their way, they’d destroy the entire world.” Candidates loyal to this Republican Party will not serve the public they should represent. A wealthy and powerful group is bullying the rest into submission. They are doing this at all levels of state and federal government. Ron Paul and his supporters can verify how bad it really is. The group wants personal power and profit. What are you going to do about it? Voting Republican
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And Other Correspondence ticket because of family history, or thinking it maintains balanced control in government, only gives them control. You know what’s needed; vote no. Warren Isleib Nashua NH § Sharon: Presumed Guilty To the Editor: The Aug. 30 Portland PressHerald had an Associated Press report, “Former official denies Israel aided in poison death of Arafat,” Yasser Arafat being the long-time leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization. According to the report, a Swiss laboratory said it found traces of a deadly substance on his belongings, prompting a French investigation into his possible murder. The report also told how, for the last two years of his life, Israelis had kept Arafat prisoner at his Ramallah headquarters in the West Bank. During that time Israel’s prime minister was Ariel Sharon, a thuggish butcher who wouldn’t blink an eye at murdering a prisoner who was in his power. Those who deny that Israel poisoned Arafat should take a look at its homicidal history. Marorie Gallace Camden, ME § Trust Women To the Editor: At this point, many New Hampshire women have probably heard about the comments of Missouri Congressman Todd Akin, an anti-choice extremist who opposes abortion rights even in the case of rape and incest. What they might not know is that we have another, even more extreme anti-choice candidate right here in New Hampshire: Ovide Lamontagne. Ovide is a self-proclaimed “Tea Party favorite” who’s been running for office and losing for the past 20 years.
Now he’s the Republican candidate for governor (again), and announced that he still opposes all abortion rights, even in the case of rape and incest — just like Todd Akin. But Ovide goes even further. He now says he supports a socalled “Human Life Amendment” to the Constitution. This amendment would not only overturn Roe v. Wade, it would make abortion illegal, making criminals out of women and their doctors. Not only that, it would even make many forms of birth control and fertility treatments illegal. This amendment is so extreme, even the voters of Mississippi rejected it when it came up on the ballot last year! Ovide supported Bill O’Brien and his cronies when they defunded Planned Parenthood, and now he wants to go even further, signing on to an anti-choice agenda that includes passing a new law to allow insurance companies to drop coverage for birth control. Ovide was the wrong choice for New Hampshire women 20 years ago, and he’s the wrong choice now. On November 6, vote for Maggie Hassan, who won’t allow the government to control our health care choices! Gail Mitchell Barrington, NH § Mitt Exposed To the Editor: If you ever wondered whether Mitt Romney cares about middle class and low-income Americans, you need not wonder any longer. At a private fundraiser, Mitt showed his true colors. We no longer need to guess how Mitt feels about “the rest of us.” Caught on videotape, Mitt stated that 47 percent of all Americans do not pay taxes and are freeloading off those who do pay taxes. Mitt crassly divides Amer-
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ica into two halves: those who matter and the 47 percent whom he does not care about. It is not his job, he said, as a candidate (nor apparently as president), “to worry about those people.” As it turns out, those 47 percent, “undeserving freeloaders” include hard working men and women in low-paying, blue-collar jobs who don’t earn enough to owe federal income tax, elderly Americans whose Social Security pensions are too low to be taxed, disabled veterans, and individuals who have been maimed at work. Most of us would hardly consider these individuals “freeloaders.” Mitt failed to mention that the 47 percent also includes Americans who, like Mitt, are extremely wealthy, but are able to shelter their income in overseas banks or via tax loopholes. From his revealing statements, it is clear that Mitt Romney has no intention of being the President of all Americans, but rather will continue to protect the assets of the very rich, who are growing richer on the backs of hard working middle- and low-income families. In order to finance tax breaks for the super rich, Mitt will cut Medicare, Social Security, and other programs that support those in need. As for the very wealthy, they will continue to sink millions into the campaigns of Republicans leaders like Mitt Romney and Congressman Frank Guinta who have taken a pledge never to increase taxes on the very rich, thus allowing the wealthiest Americans to continue to amass their fortunes. For them, it is an investment with high returns. Beth Olshansky Durham, NH § Food for the Hungry To the Editor: I am alarmed at the way that Mitt Romney and Congressman Frank Guinta view food for the hungry. Congressman Guinta voted to cut Meals on Wheels Murph’s Fortnightly Quote “…you don’t go through a laundry list, you talk about the things that you think are important.”
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for the homebound, and Romney said in his famous insult of the 47 percent that people think they are “entitled” to food. Every major religion talks about feeding the hungry as a moral responsibility, not an unnecessary “entitlement” that can be cut. Congressman Guinta and Mitt Romney do not share our values. I will be voting for Carol Shea-Porter and President Obama, because they do. Eva Powers Portsmouth, NH Eva: Moral, schmoral — food should go to job creators, first. We plebians can get by on the crumbs that fall off their golden plates. The Editor § No Medicare Voucher Program To the Editor: Medicare makes a difference. It keeps older people healthy. But Congressmen Frank Guinta and Paul Ryan voted to ruin Medicare by changing it to a voucher program. Seniors would have to shop around for health care. Having shopped around for Medicare supplemental plans for myself and Medicare Prescription plans for my mother, I can tell you it is not easy. It is a process I would NOT recommend for anybody, computer savvy or not. Also, the voucher would not/could not keep up with the rising costs of medical care. This is wrong, and proves Congressman Guinta is wrong for seniors and their families. Do not vote for Congressman Frank Guinta if you believe Medicare should not turn into a voucher program. Salme Perry Rollinsford, NH § Response to the Editor’s Reply To the Editor: In response to the Editor’s reply to my September 21st letter, I fully agree that I will need to take marshmallows for the future location of my immortal soul. That’s because I just love to go camping!
I find the Editor’s suggestion an amusing coincidence because I had just returned from a camping trip where I had toasted many a delicious marshmallow by the campfire. The morning after I even gave my leftover marshmallows to a grateful camper setting up tent nearby. Seriously though, should the Republicans retake the White House and the Supreme Court with it, as the Editor hypothesized, my soul will be well if I have voted for myself as a writein candidate for president. That’s because I believe in voting for the right person instead of voting for the lesser of two evils. Where will your soul be if you vote yet again for a president who leads us into ungodly war after ungodly war? Instead, why not vote for peace loving candidate like myself? Alex J. Boros Rochester, NH Alex: You remind us of our seldom right but never in doubt Speaker of the House, Bill O’Brien. Couldn’t you please move to Alabama or New York or some other state where your vote won’t matter? The Editor § Who is Ovide Lamontagne? To the Editor: Ovide Lamontagne began his political career in 1992 when he lost the Republican primary for More Hate Mail, &c. to page six
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Page 6 - The New Hampshire Gazette - Friday, October 5, 2012
Northcountry Chronicle
Improving the Calendar by William Marvel
O
ne of the first papers I wrote as a student at Pine Tree School was about George Washington. A summer neighbor had given me his leather-bound copy of the five-volume Washington biography by John Marshall, which I still have, and Marshall began with the assertion that Washington was born on February 22, 1732. The only problem is that he wasn’t, really. If Augustine Washington kept a diary, or recorded his third son’s birth in the family Bible, he would have entered the information under the date of February 11, 1731. England and the colonies still clung then to the Julian calendar of Roman times, which lost nearly two seconds a day against the solar revolutions of the planet. Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Christian world’s present-day calendar in 1582, beginning with an immediate advance of ten days, but the marital ambitions of Eng-
land’s Henry VIII had predisposed him to ignore papal decrees. The British Empire muddled on with the Julian calendar for another 169 years, falling farther behind its Catholic neighbors every day. Had Washington been born in Quebec, or Spanish Florida, it might have been February 22, but in the domain of King George II it was February 11. Determining the year was another matter, for the Julian calendar marked March 25 as the beginning of the new year, and that was the element that Parliament corrected first when, in 1750, it tried to conform to the rest of western Europe. The year 1751 began on March 25, as usual, but throughout the realm it ended on December 31, and 1752 began the next day. Washington had no birthday in 1751: he turned 19 in 1750, but turned 20 in 1752. Belatedly responding to the ten-day difference in Gregory’s calendar, Parliament passed a supplementary act taking those
days out of September, 1752. An additional day’s discrepancy had accumulated by then, so Britain jumped from September 3 to September 14, which must have played hell with per-diem allowances and the calculation of vacation days. Already robbed of a year, Washington then lost eleven more days, and to make the math work he pretended he had been born on February 22, 1732. This may explain why he seemed so mature for his age during the French and Indian War. Britain was not the only laggard in adopting the pope’s calendar. Czarist Russia continued operating under the Julian calendar through 1917, probably on the principle that it didn’t matter, since every day under the czar was the same. The renowned October Revolution therefore took place in what most of the world thought of as November. Revolutions sometimes rearrange the calendar extensively, just as they invent radical new forms of
address. Where the aristocrat formerly known as “prince” could be greeted as “citizen,” or “comrade,” or worse, the names of the months might also be changed to reflect the reach of the popular uprising. The French Revolution introduced a complete reorganization of the calendar, along with new nomenclature. The months were given names evocative of the weather, or agriculture. Napoleon assumed power as dictator, for instance, on the 18th Brumaire, which coincided with November 9, 1799. During the dozen years of its revolutionary calendar, France knew no weeks or weekends. Every month had 30 days, and each was divided into thirds, with every tenth day set aside for rest. Your average proletarian could only have a real blowout party during the five additional feast days that concluded the year. Leap years were recognized by the insertion of one more day, called Revolution Day, and making that a quadrennial event certainly must
have cut down on the expense and annoyance of fireworks. That calendar, with its efficient division into consecutive nine-day periods of work, came to an end with New Year’s Eve of 1805: it was no doubt lobbied to death by France’s public-employee unions, which are so notoriously fond of not working. Different countries and organizations still toy with the way they observe the days, months, and years—often with the goal of making life easier. American public schools may have devised the most enviable calendar. They only recognize somewhere between 180 and 186 nominal work days, but even those are further reduced by sick days, personal days, twohour delays, early releases, and bereavement leave for relatives real or imagined. Most of their calendar consists of what the sansculottes would have welcomed as feast days, for celebrating their abundant good fortune. Napoleon himself couldn’t beat that.
MoreMash Notes, Hate Mail, And Other Correspondence, from Page Five Congress to Bill Zeliff. In 1996, Lamontagne ran against then New Hampshire State Senator Jeanne Shaheen for Governor. He was decisively defeated in that election 57 percent to 40 percent. Lamontagne didn’t run for major public office again until 2010 when he challenged Kelly Ayotte, Bill Binnie, and Jim Bender for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate. Ayotte defeated Lamontagne, Binnie, and Bender in the primary and won the General Election, becoming the junior Senator from this state. Now, in 2012, Lamontagne is running again for Governor, this time against Democrat Maggie
Hassan. Since the inception of the Tea Party in 2009, Lamontagne has been closely associated with that movement. He said recently in a radio interview, “I’m still the Tea Party favorite …. That’s where I am.” (WKXL Concord News Radio, 8/12/12). As a Tea Party member, Lamontagne’s political views closely parallel the group’s beliefs. He recently responded in writing to a questionnaire sent to him by the Raymond New Hampshire Area Tea Party. He was asked “Do you support a voucher system?” Vouchers violate the state constitution by giving public tax money to private schools,
The New Hampshire Gazette
including religious schools. Lamontagne wrote in reply to the Raymond Tea Party group, “Yes, I believe in school choice, vouchers, and support homeschoolers and charter schools.” Of course, in this case, “support” means giving them public tax money. The Raymond Tea Party questionnaire posed a second question about education: “Would you support a law that mandates teaching both creationism as well as evolution as theories in my public schools science classes?” In reply, Lamontagne wrote, “I support teaching of creationism as well as evolution.” A third question on the Ray-
mond Tea Party questionnaire asked, “What do you think is our most pressing family/social issue? (i.e., defense of marriage act, abortion, etc.)” In response, Lamontagne wrote, “I am 100 percent prolife, and I support a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution. I also believe that marriage is the union between one man and one woman.” When Lamontagne writes “I am 100 percent pro-life,”he means that he doesn’t support abortion, even in the case of rape, incest, or threat to the life of the mother. In addition, the amendment to the Constitution Lamontagne backs
would make abortion a crime. The amendment would also outlaw some forms of birth control and fertility treatment. Finally, Lamontagne would allow companies to deny women insurance coverage for essential health care services, including birth control. Another question on the Raymond Tea Party questionnaire asks, “Do you believe it is the responsibility of the federal government to stop global warming?” To which Lamontagne writes, “No, I have signed the Americans for Prosperity (the lobby bankrolled by the billionaire Koch Brothers) ‘No Climate Tax’ pledge and will oppose any legislation
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Friday, October 5, 2012 - The New Hampshire Gazette - Page 7
Romney Takes the Gold in 2002 Olympics by Jim Hightower ne of the curiosities of life in these curious times is that millions of Americans are enjoying the benefits of government — but are either unaware of it or in denial. A 2008 study found that 40 percent of Medicare recipients, 44 percent of Social Security beneficiaries, 53 percent of people with student loans, and 60 percent of
homeowners with taxpayer subsidized mortgages answered “no” to the question of whether they are using a government social program. But, at least they’re not running to be the chief executive of the federal government. Mitt Romney, on the other hand is, and he’s been disparaging Americans who turn to government to get what he calls “free stuff ” to meet some of their needs. He cites his
experience as a private sector executive as a more virtuous model and proof that he has the managerial chops to run the government like a business. For example, Romney’s campaign has broadcast TV ads hailing his successful stint as CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympic games in Salt Lake City, Utah. Unmentioned by this heroic free-enterpriser, however, is that his gold medal success was largely
the result of “free stuff ” he got from Washington. Grossly over budget and unable to attract enough private-sector investment, Romney dashed for a taxpayer handout that ballooned to $1.5 billion before he was done. That’s a lot of stuff! In fact, it was one-and-a-half-times more government money than had been thrown into all seven Olympic games held in the U.S. since 1904. Sen. John McCain called the level
of federal subsidy “a disgrace,” made all the more disgraceful by later exposés documenting that much of the loot went not for the games, but to enrich wealthy Utah developers. Remember Mitt’s Olympic haul of government gold the next time you hear him assail poor people for getting food stamps. Copyright 2012 by Jim Hightower & Associates. Contact Laura Ehrlich (laura@jimhightower.com).
regarding climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue.” Three times, the voters of New Hampshire have rejected Ovide Lamontagne’s bids for higher office. An examination of his beliefs and plans for New Hampshire argues strongly that he should be defeated a fourth time. Gary Patton Hampton, NH § Godwin’s Law Again To the Editor: Do we really expect for illegal aliens to comply with the remaining of our American laws, even though the constant flow of them have violated our border laws every day? Over 12 million of them that are in this country are currently in the process of ignoring most of our critical laws and, thereby, forcing all of us to witness the beginning of a major legal chaos. We believe in any change that is good for this country but, it is frightening whenever we see the illegal alien similarities with the thousands of Middle East terrorists who celebrated immediately after our Sept 11 tragedy; they simply do not believe in our American laws, morals, culture or language. Without laws, this country would have no value at all yet, our current President of the United States has been trying to
do just that by ignoring our Immigration Laws, Federal Marriage Act, Operation “Fast and Furious” scandal, and so on. It appears that those who break our laws will be rewarded, while those who follow our existing laws for the purpose of protecting this country will be ignored. We have never seen such bizarre and negative behavior of a President since the time when Adolph Hitler destroyed his own country. Do we really want a repeat of this type of President in November? Ken Senkow San Antonio, TX § Go Dover! To the Editor: I was thrilled to pickles to see (in the Oct-Nov issue of Mother Earth News) the Town of Dover, NH, featured as one of “8 Great Places You’ve (Maybe) Never Heard Of.” This full-page article was a crystal-clear reminder of why I chose the Granite State as my “Home of Record” (having been born in Massachusetts) when I had the opportunity to be a recruiter for the U.S. Navy in Claremont in the late 1970’s. It was also exhilarating to read that Dover (unlike so many cities and towns across America) is still a vibrant, flourishing community after nearly 400 years because
its citizens and government pull together (as Mother Earth News describes) “transforming rust to rustic.” Recognizing the Tuttle Farm has endured for 11 generations recalls to mind that I have Tuttles in my family tree as well, on my mother’s side. Dover is just one ever-present reminder of how much, and why, I miss the Granite State and expect one day to return to the state and perhaps the little town just south of Dover (Newton Junction) which has been such a positive and lasting influence (and provides wonderful memories) in my life. Your accomplishments and sense of heritage and traditions are an inspiration and are to be commended. Way To Go, Dover! David L. Snell Dillsboro, NC § Now It’s Those People To the Editor: The first official words our nation expressed were, “We the people,” an all-inclusive term and one that spoke of a unified position. Sadly, over the years the inclusiveness and the unity somehow became less resolved. I guess we can blame the politicians but the people themselves have to shoulder some of the blame. If one was to look beneath the flowery
language and the fancy script of our Constitution, “We the people” probably meant white males who owned land. The concept of unequal citizenry has always been known and for a very long time accepted by the family of man. But that was in centuries past and supposedly we have learned a lot since then. We have made measurable progress with racial discrimination only to see economic, philosophic, religious and social-economic discrimination slither into our national dialogue and political philosophy. Four years ago it was the concept of “Real Americans,” as opposed to “Non-Americans;” you know the type, those that read newspapers, believe in climate change, evolution and actually want to live in cities. Then came the “Tea baggers,” who want to “take our country back.” Do they forget that there was a free election and real Americans voted? Now the Republican right is further subdividing the people for the purposes of budgeting and political posturing into old people, poor people, “those people,” and, thanks to Ann Romney, “you people.” Presumably this last category contains the media and anyone else who questions her husband. It has been a long time since “We the people” expressed the
sentiment of a whole nation. Hopefully, in November we can come full circle and once again think and act as one nation and reject Romney, Ryan and the right’s definition of “Real Americans.” Dave Potter N. Hampton, NH § Carol Shea-Porter is Right for Seniors To the Editor: Carol Shea-Porter has been a big supporter of seniors. She grew up with her parents and grandparents in a large, extended family, and she knows that the generations care about each other. Carol Shea-Porter knows that families cannot afford to lose our current Medicare program. The Paul Ryan budget changes Medicare into a voucher program that will cost seniors more money and make them shop around for insurance, a very confusing and frustrating process. Congressman Frank Guinta did vote for the Paul Ryan budget to change Medicare to vouchers, putting these extra burdens and uncertainties on the minds of seniors. This tea party idea is one of the worst ideas ever, and I think Congressman Guinta and his tea party need to leave Congress in November. Herb Moyer Exeter, NH
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Page 8 - The New Hampshire Gazette - Friday, October 5, 2012
Admiral Fowle’s Piscataqua River Tidal Guide (Not for Navigational Purposes) Portsmouth, arguably the first town in this country not founded by religious extremists, is bounded on the north and east by the Piscataqua River, the second, third, or fourth fastest-flowing navigable river in the country, depending on
who you choose to believe. The Piscataqua’s ferocious current is caused by the tide, which, in turn, is caused by the moon. The other player is a vast sunken valley — Great Bay — about ten miles upriver. Twice a day, the moon
drags about seventeen billion gallons of seawater — enough to fill 2,125,000 tanker trucks — up the river and into Great Bay. This creates a roving hydraulic conflict, as incoming sea and the outgoing river collide. The skirmish line
moves from the mouth of the river, up past New Castle, around the bend by the old Naval Prison, under Memorial Bridge, past the tugboats, and on into Great Bay. This can best be seen when the tide is rising.
Twice a day, too, the moon lets all that water go. All the seawater that just fought its way upstream goes back home to the ocean. This is when the Piscataqua earns its title for xth fastest current. Look for the red buoy, at the upstream
end of Badger’s Island, bobbing around in the current. It weighs several tons, and it bobs and bounces in the current like a cork. The river also has its placid moments, around high and low tides. When the river rests, its tugboats
and bridges work their hardest. Ships coming in laden with coal, oil, and salt do so at high tide, for more clearance under their keels. They leave empty, riding high in the water, at low tide, to squeeze under Memorial Bridge.
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2003—California voters throw out Governor Gray Davis and replace him with Arnold Schwarzenegger. 2002—President George W. Bush announces that “on any given day” Iraq could attack the U.S. with chemical or biological weapons, a situation which therefore creates “an urgent duty” to stop them. 2001—U.S. forces invade Afghanistan. George W. Bush writes his Poppy, “I feel no sense of the socalled heavy burden of the office.” 1996—Fox News begins injecting mass quantities of insidious swill into the public forum. 1980—Congressman John Jenrette, Jr. (D-SC) is convicted of conspiracy and bribery. 1955—At the Six Gallery on Fillmore Street in San Francisco, Allen Ginsberg reads “Howl” in public for the first time. 1917—Relief forces reach the Lost Battalion in the Argonne Forest. 1765—The Stamp Act Congress meets in New York. 1756—Daniel Fowle and his enslaved pressman Primus begin printing The New Hampshire Gazette in Portsmouth. It achieves national seniority in 1839 when the Maryland Gazette folds. 1571—Christians and Muslims duke it out at the Battle of Lopanto in the final clash of oar-powered galleys. Nearly 40,000 are killed or wounded. Jesus wins.
2004—American warplanes try to kill Abu Musab al Zarqawi but accidentally kill 13 people at a wedding instead. 1991—House Speaker Tom Foley (D-WA) announces that the House’s sergeant-at-arms will no longer fix traffic tickets for House members. 1991—The Senate, instead of voting as scheduled on whether to confirm Clarence Thomas for the Supreme Court, decides to hold hearings on whether he’s a sexual harasser. 1974—The Franklin National Bank collapses, undermined by Mafioso Michele Sindona, a pal of R. Nixon’s Treasury Secretary David Kennedy. 1969—A three-day riot branded “Days of Rage” begins in Chicago. 1968—Washington, D.C. riots after police shoot a black man. 1967—Ernesto “Che” Guevara is captured by Bolivian troops led by the CIA’s Felix Rodriguez. 1957—Walter O’Malley announces the Dodgers are moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. 1955—“The nations of the world will have to unite” warns Gen. D. MacArthur, “for the next war will be an interplanetary war.” 1918—In the Argonne Forest, former pacifist Cpl. Alvin C. York kills 25 German soldiers and captures 132.
2005—Four die as the Cold River floods Alstead, NH. 2004—During a Presidential debate, a bulge in his suit makes it appear that George W. Bush is wearing a wire. 2001—Someone still unknown and uncaught mails letters carrying anthrax spores to the offices of two Democratic senators. 1992—Hearing a loud bang, Michelle Knapp of Peekskill, NY goes outside and finds a hole punched through the trunk of her 1980 Chevy Malibu and a warm 26-pound meteorite lying on the pavement beneath it. 1974—At 2 a.m., D.C. cops stop Rep. Wilbur Mills’s car near the Jefferson Memorial for speeding with headlights off. Mills’s passenger, Fanne (sic) Foxe, aka “The Argentine Firecracker,” hops out of the car and into the Potomac River Tidal Basin. 1970—Alexander Solzhenitsyn turns his nose up at the Nobel Prize. 1967—Dr. Ernesto “Che” Guevara taunts a hesitant executioner, saying “Just shoot, you coward. You are only killing a man.” 1966—Lt. JG William T. Patton, flying a prop-driven Douglas A1 Skyraider, downs a MiG-17 jet fighter over Vietnam. 1965—Jimmy Dickens’s “May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose” begins climbing the pop charts.
2003—Rush Limbaugh, the Hindenburg of talk radio, confesses he’s an addict headed for rehab. 2002—In an unusually craven display, the U.S. Senate votes 77-23 to let George W. Bush have his way with Saddam Hussein. 1989—The Soviet news agency Tass reports nine-foot tall aliens have landed southeast of Moscow. 1973—Vice President Spiro “Ted” Agnew resigns in disgrace, pleading nolo to charges he dodged taxes on bribes and kickbacks. 1969—Richard Nixon, putting his “madman theory” into practice, orders a gratuitous global nuclear alert for all U.S. military. 1957—A fire in a British nuclear facility causes a radiation leak contaminating milk over a 200 mile radius. The contaminated milk is dumped in the Irish Sea. 1933—A Boeing 247 airliner is destroyed by a bomb over Indiana. Seven passengers and three crew die in the first such act in history. 1911—Jasper Newton “Jack” Daniel, Tennessee distiller, dies of blood poisoning from an infected toe injured by kicking a safe whose combination he’d forgotten. 1888—A trainful of conventioneers coming from an abstinence rally stops in PA. Another “temperance” train plows into it killing 66. Newspaper accounts suggest many survivors abandoned their pledges.
2003—Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez gives Yankee coach Don Zimmer a shove, knocking the 72year old Zimmer to the ground. 2001—Citing “certain information,” the FBI warns of a terrorist attack in “the next several days.” It fails to materialize. 1991—Anita Hill testifies before Congress that her former boss, Supreme Court Justice-to-be Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her. 1983—In Bryant, ME, the last hand-cranked phones in the U.S. are taken out of service. 1960—Nikita Khrushchev employs footwear to make his point at the podium of the UN. 1954—The Viet Minh take over North Vietnam. 1945—Mao and the Red Army go to war against Chiang Kai-Shek’s alleged government. 1906—The City of San Francisco decrees that Japanese children must go to segregated schools. 1868—Thomas A. Edison gets his first patent, for an electric vote recording machine. 1811—The Juliana, the first steampowered ferryboat, begins operating between New York City and Hoboken. 1809—At a tavern called Grinder’s Stand explorer Meriwether Lewis cuts his wrists and shoots himself twice—according to the official version of events.
2004—Thieves break into Lucas County Democratic Party HQ in Toledo, OH, taking computers holding essential information. 2000—In the port of Aden, Yemen, the destroyer U.S.S. Cole is badly damaged. Seventeen sailors are killed by a terrorist bomb aboard a small boat coming alongside. 1972—Forty-seven men are injured during a race riot aboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. 1970—Lieut. William Calley is court-martialled for killing 102 civilians in My Lai. 1969—Navy nurse Susan Schnell drops anti-war leaflets from a plane onto a CA military base. 1961—The FBI launches a “Socialist Worker Disruption Program.” 1960—Otoya Yamaguchi, 17, a right-wing ultranationalist, fatally stabs Inejiro Asanuma, leader of the Japanese Socialists, with a sword during a televised debate. 1945—Cpl. Desmond Doss, an exmedic and conscientious objector, becomes the first non-combatant to receive the Medal of Honor. 1917—The First Battle of Passchendaele begins: 13,000 Allied casualties, no advance. 1902—Mine owners in Pana, IL import strike-breakers. Violence ensues. Fourteen die and 25 are wounded. 1492—A lost European begins oppressing native Americans.
2004—Andrea Mackris sues her former boss, Bill O’Reilly, for making lewd phones calls. Two weeks later O’Reilly pays her to shut up. 2004—George W. Bush claims during a televised debate, “Gosh, I don’t think I ever said I’m not worried about Osama bin Laden. That’s kind of one of those exaggerations,” directly contradicting his own statement of March 3, 2002 that he’s “not that much concerned about him.” 1991—A lie detector test suggests Anita Hill is telling the truth about Clarence Thomas. 1972—Seventy-five years after the land for it was allocated, the Burns Paiute Indian reservation in Oregon is created. 1972—A plane carrying the Uruguayan soccer team crashes high in the Andes, leading to culinary experimentation. 1812—U.S. Gen. Van Rensselaer sends a troop of regulars across the Canadian border. Those who aren’t shot are forced to surrender. A troop of U.S. militia then refuses orders to invade. 1754—Molly Pitcher is born in New Hampshire. 1660—“I went … to see Major General Harrison hanged, drawn, and quartered,” writes Samuel Pepys in his diary. “He was looking as cheerful as any man could do in that condition.”
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2001—Delta Flight 458 (AtlantaNewark) is diverted to Charlotte after two praying Orthodox Jews are mistaken for terrorists. 1982—Ronald Reagan declares “War on Drugs.” 1978—Jimmie Carter legalizes home brewing of beer. 1968—27 soldiers are arrested at the Presidio for protesting conditions in the stockade. The same day, the Pentagon announces that 24,000 troops will be going back to Vietnam for a second tour— involuntarily. 1962—A U-2 flying over Cuba photographs medium-range ballistic missile sites being built. 1947—Two broken ribs be damned: Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier. 1943—Prisoners in the Sobibor extermination camp revolt, killing many of their SS officers and guards. Half the 600 prisoners escape the camp under fire. 1919—Forbidden to discuss their pay by Vanity Fair, Robert Benchley and Dorothy Parker wear signs stating their salaries. 1912—Anarchist William Shrenck shoots Teddy Roosevelt in the chest and later says “any man looking for a third term ought to be shot.” Roosevelt, bleeding, delivers a 90 minute speech. 1864—The New Orleans Tribune, America’s first black daily, begins.
2008—The Dow loses 7.8 percent of its value in its 2nd worst day ever. 2004—Jon Stewart appears on CNN’s “Crossfire” and begs Tucker Carlson to “stop hurting America.” Less than 90 days later CNN announces the show is over. 1997—On Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, RAF pilot Andy Green breaks the sound barrier in a jetdriven, 110,000 horsepower car. 1991—The Senate confirms Clarence Thomas as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. 1974—To great fanfare but little effect, Gerald Ford’s “Whip Inflation Now” campaign begins. 1966—Huey Newton and Bobby Seale form the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. 1965—David Miller becomes the first to publicly burn his draft card in Vietnam War protest. 1959—A nuke-laden B-52 and a fuel-laden KC-135 collide over Kentucky; we get off easy. 1923—The Senate begins investigating suddenly prosperous Interior Secretary Albert Fall, a Republican who leased the Navy’s Teapot Dome oilfield to a friend. 1917—Exotic dancer Mata Hari, convicted of spying for Germany, is shot by a French firing squad. 1910—Melvin Vaniman, aboard the airship America, transmits the first in-flight radio message: “Roy, come and get this goddamn cat.”
2000—Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan dies in a plane crash but goes on to defeat John Ashcroft in the November election for Senate. 1976—Billboard lists Disco Duck as the country’s #1 song. 1973—Henry Kissinger somehow gets the Nobel Peace Prize. 1972—House Majority Leader Hale Boggs (D-LA), Rep. Nick Begich (D-AK), and several others disappear during an airplane flight in Alaska. 1968—Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise Black Power salutes at the Mexico Olympics. 1962—At breakfast, President John F. Kennedy finds he’s got a Cuban Missile Crisis on his plate. 1920—In New York, more than 30,000 Great War veterans march to demand a bonus. 1869—Well-diggers in Cardiff, NY unearth what seems to be a ten-foot tall petrified man. The “Cardiff Giant” is later found to be a tobacconist’s hoax. 1859—Abolitionist John Brown attacks Harper’s Ferry. 1814—Ruptured vats in a London brewery release 323,346 gallons of beer, drowning seven. 1715—Daniel Fowle is baptized at First Church of Boston. 1660—John Cooke, who had prosecuted King Charles I for treason in 1649, is drawn and quartered for the same crime under Charles II.
2006—George W. Bush signs the Military Commissions Act, habeas corpus be damned. 2003—The day after the Yankees win the pennant, a New York Post editorial congratulates the Red Sox for winning the pennant. 1999—Lissa Roche commits suicide after confessing she had a 19year affair with her father-in-law, George Roche III, the president of Hillsdale College, “the most conservative college in America.” 1973—OPEC shuts the tap. 1966—The anarchist collective “The Diggers” holds its first free feed in San Francisco. 1927—Harry F. Sinclair’s trial for conspiracy in the Teapot Dome scandal begins. It ends two weeks later when it’s revealed Sinclair has hired detectives to shadow the jury. 1888—Thomas Alva Edison files a patent for an “Optical Phonograph” — a movie camera. 1874—Pioneering photographer Eadweard Muybridge guns down Major Harry Larkyns, his wife’s lover. He’s later acquitted. 1871—President Grant suspends the writ of habeas corpus. 1781—After Yorktown, British General Cornwallis surrenders. The Revolution is won. 1777—British General “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga; the course of the Revolution has changed.
2011—Ohioan Terry Thompson releases his menagerie of 56 exotic animals including lions, leopards, and tigers, then kills himself. 2004—Ortiz’s 2nd walk-off homer in a day wins Game 5 for the Sox. 2003—The president of Bolivia is driven out of office (and country) by disgruntled peasants tired of his knuckling under to corrupt international energy companies. 1973—RIP Walt Kelly. 1939—Birth of Lee Harvey Oswald. 1929—The Canadian gov’t declares women are “persons.” 1927—IWW strike closes Colorado coal mines. 1898—Puerto Rico is colonized by the U.S. 1867—We get the deed to Alaska from the Russians. 1860—British troops burn the imperial summer palace of the Manchu emperors towards the end of the Second Opium War. 1854—At a meeting in Ostend, U.S. ministers to Spain, France and Germany declare Cuba indispensable to U.S. security interests and recommend to President Franklin Pierce that he purchase it. Sicily beats him to it. 1775—British ships under Capt. Henry Mowat destroy Falmouth [Portland, ME] with an incendiary bombardment. Collateral damage: Mowat’s career & British control.
2005—Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) wins $853,492 in the Powerball lottery. A dying woman whose real estate deposit he has refused to return receives exactly none of it. 2005—Saddam Hussein goes on trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity and Bushes. 2004—Riot police maintain order long enough for the (bloody) Red Sox to beat the Yankees 4 to 2 in Game 6 of the ALCS. 2000—George W. Bush says at the Al Smith Memorial Dinner, “This is an impressive crowd, the haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elite. I call you my base.” 1987—The stock market drops 22 percent on “Black Monday.” 1982—Automaker J. DeLorean is arrested with 59 lbs. of coke. 1972—Philippine police shoot and kill Kinshichi Kozuka, Japan’s penultimate WW II holdout. 1962—Air Force General Curtis LeMay recommends direct military intervention in Cuba. 1960—Pres. Eisenhower slaps a trade embargo on Cuba. 1936—Watertown, MA becomes the first town to fingerprint its high school students. 1864—St. Albans, VT is attacked by twenty Confederate cavalrymen riding south from Canada. They rob three banks and escape with more than $200,000.
2005—Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) votes against increasing the level of federal assistance to the poor for home heating. 2004—The Red Sox come back from a 3 game deficit and become the American League Champions, beating the Yankees 10 to 3 at Yankee Stadium. 1990—Rallies are held in 22 American cities protesting the impending Gulf War. 1983—The feds recognize the Mashantucket Pequots, paving the way for a gargantuan casino. 1973—After Attorney General Eliot Richardson and Deputy A.G. William Ruckelshaus both refuse on principle to comply with President Richard Nixon’s order to fire Special Prosecuter Archibald Cox, Solicitor General Robert Bork, who is not so encumbered, complies. 1947—HUAC opens hearings on commie influence in H’wood. 1936—“The Long March” ends, two years after it began. 1930—William Kogut, while incarcerated on Death Row at San Quentin, kills himself with a pipe bomb made from playing cards. 1922—In Dayton, Ohio, Army Lieutenant Harold R. Harris becomes the first man to successfully parachute from a disabled plane. 1895—Birth of Gaston Leval, Spanish anarchist. 1854—Birth of Arthur Rimbaud.
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“With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt.” - Moses
Therapeutic Massage, Aromatherapy & Bodywork 150 Congress Street Portsmouth, NH 603-766-FISH
Jill Vranicar• Kate Leigh
16 Market Square, Portsmouth, NH
(603) 436-6006
Next to City Hall in Downtown Dover, NH 3 Hale Street j (603) 742-1737
Since 2011
7 Commercial Alley ~ 766-1616 www.portsmouthsaltcellar.com