[No salutation necessary.]
I’m sending you some stamps in hopes that it will help with the costs of mailing out copies of the Gazette.
I don’t have to tell you the cost of one stamp!!! I thought I was going to pass out in the Post Office lobby when they told me! It’s like Old Willie said: “The World’s all going to ‘Pot;’ Whether we like it or not. The Best I can tell the World’s going to hell and we’re sure going to miss it a lot. All the Whisky in Lynchburg, Tenn. ain’t going to hit the spot. I’ve got a hundred dollar bill, You can keep your pills, it’s all going to ‘Pot.’” I love Old Willie Nelson!
I wonder how many times the “Despot’s” “Wife” has had to visit the Plastic Doc for another Operation Touch Up?? Isn’t she just the special Frst Lady?? For me, I’d rather sleep with a “Rattle Snake” under my pillow in hopes it would be quick when it bit me! Lord let it; forgive my sins; be fast!!!
I wonder who taught her English? She can’t put 3 words together without falling down and losing one!
I’ve lived here for more than 40 years in the forest and no power poles up here. No town water either. I get my power from the sun! My water from the Fire Station in town, Solon, six miles away—I don’t have the loot to have a well put it. $10,000.
All my youth is long gone but I’m still hanging on. Never forget, if you’re looking for the first true Americans look at what’s left of our indigenous people, the Indians. They have been here for 20,000 years or more!!! It didn’t take us long to bring this U.S.A. down to the shit house level. A mere 250 years!!!
Keep doing what you do best. Print that Gazette and more power to ya!!
I’m proud of all you good folks. Peace and Love from the Forest!
Bruce Weldon “Ace” Morris, Assault Helicopters, Vietnam, “1967,” 1st Cav Division, 229th Avn. Bn.
Brother Bruce:
From ’90 to ’95, this paper was published episodically from a different neck of “The Forest.” Great to hear from you.
The Editor
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A Note to Correspondents
We received a letter recently which included several passages, in quotes, which the writer openly stated confessed were written by AI. It went directly into the bin. We will not knowingly put robot-written text, whether overt or covert, in front of our readers. To paraphrase our late friend Emilio, “If the robot wrote it, let the robot read it.” But this raises a question: how shall we avoid doing so?
We are not about to try to force our dwindling supply of brain cells to learn to detect robot-written rot. So, we may begin running suspect letters through online AI detectors. Sadly, as solutions go, that’s a lousy one. Our anarchic soul rebels at the thought of 86’ing a letter on the say-so of another damned robot. We are shocked—shocked!—to find that “progress” has put us in a dilemma the only solutions of which are distasteful.
Fair warning to lazy writers: AI use may result in a quick trip down the Memory Hole. – The Ed.
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About Warmington and Perdue…
Dear Editor:
In a New Hampshire Public Radio interview and on The Union Leader’s front page: Cinde Warmington’s connection with Purdue Pharma in detail. Two decades ago the “Oxycontin painkiller would [later] get innocent people hooked on opioids.” (Union Leader) Cinde Warmington worked for eight months for Purdue Pharma in 2001; later came the drug’s devastation.
Now: face-off between candidates. Under attack by Gov. Ayotte, Warmington points out Ayotte’s big pharma connection. As U.S. Sen. Ayotte from 2011-2017, she “took more than $400,000 in campaign checks from drug manufacturers.” (Union Leader) Big pharma, after the U.S. Supreme Court declared corporations are “people” (2010) and could make campaign contributions as “free speech,” shaped politics and still does.
The Cinde Warmington I relate to showed up to be Belknap County Dems’ secretary, when I was elected county Dems’ Chair. This is from July 1, 2006, Foster’s Daily Democrat: “Belknap County Democrats are planning a fund-raiser for later this summer… to energize the party’s faithful in the run-up to September’s Primary. ‘I think it’s good for the public to see who these people are and what their message is’, said the newly elected County Chair Lynn Chong.” Twenty years ago!
I witnessed Cinde’s fine intelligence, warm personality, good energy, and saw more of her public service dedication when she was on our five-seat Governor’s Council, 2020 – 2024, championing common sense and people’s needs.
Lynn Rudmin Chong
Sanbornton, N.H.
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Beriont: The Real Deal
To the editor,
I met Carleigh Beriont about a year ago while standing next to her at a naturalization ceremony in Portsmouth. It was a beautiful event. I noticed her watching quietly, wearing a name tag, and I asked why she was there. Her answer was the same as mine — to support people on one of the most important days of their lives. We talked for a bit, and I even asked for her card, something I almost never do. When I got home, the first thing I did was look her up.
What I found matched the feeling I had when I met her. Carleigh Beriont (Berryont) has a background rooted in people—starting with her husband, whom I believe is her highschool sweetheart. They are both teachers, working in the trenches with the rest of us.
Throughout my career as a psychiatric nurse, I was sometimes in dangerous environments, such as ten years on a locked psych unit. Knowing whom I could trust kept me safe. I felt that same sense of trust with Carleigh.
She will work hard and will have the support she needs to focus on the issues before Congress. She is the real deal. I have met other candidates and was not impressed. I want someone in Congress whose credentials come from helping people, someone with an impressive background and a genuine commitment to serving everyone — not just those who vote for her.
Carleigh Beriont is the real deal.
Patty Demeule
North Hampton, N.H.
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Urrutia Is Highly Qualified
To the Editor:
In this time of crisis, we need our next Member of Congress to be able to hit the ground running. We need a representative whose life, work experience, and qualifications prove readiness for the challenges ahead. Christian Urrutia has the most relevant experience for the job.
Urrutia is not just an experienced attorney with a Master’s in International Relations, but held the position of Special Counsel at the Defense Department, where he worked to ensure the U.S. military adhered to the Geneva Conventions, kept torture-obtained evidence from judicial proceedings, and helped support Ukraine in its fight for freedom.
During Urrutia’s earlier legal career, he worked a case pro bono to hold accountable a Chilean who tortured and murdered Victor Jara, a renowned folk singer, during the Pinochet dictatorship. Urrutia tracked him down and successfully prosecuted him (2016), the jury awarding Jara’s family $28 million, and the U.S. extradited him (2023) to face criminal charges there. He has said that “those long years taught me that accountability does not arrive on its own” (youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=5ezDu2yihww&ra=m).
Urrutia has a firm moral commitment to holding the lawbreakers accountable. I know he has the courage to stand up for us. He has the skills and tenacity to make the lawbreakers pay for their crimes against America, our Constitution, and human rights. That’s why on Sept. 8th, I’ll vote for Christian Urrutia, who will fight for our rights in Congress.
Bob McElwain
Portsmouth, N.H.
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Beriont Is a Leader
To the editor,
I wholeheartedly endorse Carleigh Beriont for Congress.
At a time when honest leadership feels harder to find, Carleigh Beriont stands out. Her background in ethics and political policy isn’t just something she studied, it’s something that has mattered to her for a long time. Earning her doctorate and now teaching at Harvard has contributed to her understanding of how our democracy is supposed to work and the importance of integrity in our elected officials. The abuses of the rule of law we’ve seen in recent years horrify me, and I know people from all political viewpoints feel the same. Because Carleigh is grounded in ethical decision‑making, I believe she would face these problems head‑on and help restore the standards that should guide public service.
Just as important is her ability to bring people together. Carleigh has shown many times that she can work with people from different backgrounds and beliefs, listen carefully, and help them find common ground. One strong example is when she led a bipartisan effort to reach a unanimous Select Board vote to reject a contract with ICE. She didn’t force anyone into a position; she helped them agree. That kind of respectful, cooperative leadership is exactly what our Congress needs.
Carleigh Beriont brings both strong ethics and practical skills to the table. At a time when trust in government is weak, her voice and leadership would help rebuild the honesty and teamwork our nation deserves.
June Fabre
Exeter, N.H.
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Sullivan Has a Record of Service
Letter to the Editor,
As New Hampshire voters consider who should represent us in the 1st Congressional District, I believe it’s important to look beyond campaign slogans and examine a candidate’s record of service and leadership. Maura Sullivan brings a background that reflects a lifetime of public service. She served as a Marine Corps officer, demonstrating a commitment to our nation that few candidates can claim. Following her military service, she continued serving the public in the Obama administration, working on issues affecting veterans and national service. She has also remained engaged in efforts to strengthen communities and expand opportunities for Americans through nonprofit and civic leadership.
Her lifetime of service resonates with me! I served 25+ years in the United States Army from Private to Lieutenant Colonel. Her experience in the Marine Corps and follow-on government service are proof that she has the experience and best interests of the citizens of New Hampshire and the United States in mind.
Whether or not you agree with her on every policy issue, her experience spans military service, federal government, veterans’ advocacy, and community leadership. Those experiences have given her firsthand knowledge of the challenges facing service members, veterans, and working families.
At a time when our politics often reward division, I believe we should value candidates who have dedicated much of their lives to serving others. New Hampshire deserves representatives with real-world leadership experience, a willingness to listen, and a commitment to public service. As voters in the 1st Congressional District make their decision, I encourage them to consider Maura Sullivan’s record and the experience she would bring to Washington.
We need proven fighters and Maura’s ready to take on this honorable task.
Andrew J. Corrow
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired), Former Town Councilor
Durham, N.H.
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Carleigh Beriont Gets It Done
To the Editor:
When picking up takeout a couple of weeks ago, I ran into a Hampton town leader who excitedly commented that our Select Board is tackling so much this year—not just “showing up.”
For the past year and half, I have had the pleasure of serving on the Hampton Select Board with Carleigh. Under her leadership, our board is working more effectively than ever. Carleigh has researched, talked with her constituents, and thought about the issues we address. She manages discussion efficiently, using skills honed in the college classroom. As we talk, she summarizes areas of agreement and moves us—and Hampton—forward.
Several of Carleigh’s opponents in this congressional race call themselves “fighters”, but the last thing we need in Washington is more polarization. Carleigh is a doer. Beholden to no-one but N.H. voters, she unearths the common ground necessary for action.
Thousands of voters in CD1 can tell you that Carleigh listens. Theyʼve been in rooms with her, expressing their dreams and concerns; she isn’t talking to special interest groups or taking their money. The voices guiding her are ours.
Undecided? You must see Carleigh in action.
At CarleighBeriont.com you can view videos of her conversations or find an upcoming event. You will then realize that beyond winning in November, Carleigh is THE candidate who will provide effective leadership in our U.S. House of Representatives.
Join me in voting for Carleigh Beriont on September 8th.
Jeff Grip
Hampton, N.H.
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Shaheen Stands Out
Dear Editor,
It’s a critical moment for our country to stand up and show how democracy can work for everybody, not just billionaires. I feel fortunate that we have several outstanding candidates running to represent the N.H. seacoast in Congress—Stefany Shaheen, Maura Sullivan and Carleigh Beriont—at this difficult time.
Among these outstanding candidates, I am supporting Stefany Shaheen. Stefany has the maturity as a leader to deal with the very challenging politics she will face in Congress. I know she will be a straight shooter and will not be overwhelmed, because that’s who she is.
Stefany is a real fighter who knows how to make the government work for people. She will help the Democratic Party use its power to listen to voters and address kitchen table issues like the cost of living, the safety of the environment, and access to healthcare. That’s why she’s got my vote.
Jody Hoffer Gittell
Portsmouth, N.H.
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Beriont’s Experience Leads the Way
To the editor,
Having examined candidates’ websites and campaign literature, witnessed them in forums, and talked to most one-to-one, it is clear to me that Carleigh Beriont is the best candidate.
Carleigh demonstrates characteristics I value in an elected official. She is intelligent, kind, determined, persistent, and empathic. She listens. She cares. She shows up.
Her role as chair of the Hampton Select Board provides a perspective unique among the candidates. She defeated an incumbent Republican to gain her seat. She led a unanimous bipartisan vote to reject a contract with ICE. She chairs the town’s Sewer and Elections Commissions and serves on the town’s Budget Committee. She is more involved in the daily experiences of residents in her community than any other candidate. She has earned the respect of colleagues and constituents.
Carleigh provides something too often missing in federal politics: a grounded understanding of how government truly operates at the level where people feel it most. Municipal officials confront problems that cannot be deferred, abstracted, or spun—they must be solved. They manage budgets that must balance, infrastructure that must function, and public expectations that arrive not in polls but in person, at meetings, in the supermarket and community trails, on sidewalks, and in inboxes.
Carleigh will bring all of this to Washington. At a time when voters are demanding both integrity and competence, Carleigh’s municipal leadership demonstrates that she already knows how to govern—how to listen, build consensus, and deliver results. That perspective will serve New Hampshire well.
Chuck Rhoades
Dover, N.H.
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The Cost of the Iran War
To the Editor:
Before America and Israel started the war against Iran, General Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned President Trump that this would deplete our supplies of air defense missiles and Tomahawk attack missiles. General Caine also warned Iran could stop traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, told the president and the public that there would be no shortage of missiles because the war would be over in weeks. General Caine was right, Hegseth was wrong. We have now burned through half our supply of Patriot and 80 percent of Thaad air defense missiles. We have also used up a third of our supply of Tomahawk missiles. Patriot missiles are needed to protect our allies in the Gulf. They no longer have confidence in our ability to protect them or open the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump has claimed 41 times that he won this war. He claims Iran is desperate to talk to him. Neither is true and our enemies and allies can no longer trust anything he says. This war has harmed our reputation and status as a superpower. It is harming our and the world’s economy. It is time to admit failure and end this war.
Walter Hamilton
Portsmouth, N.H.
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How Do You Spell “Stupid”?
Dear Editor:
In the midst of the largest measles outbreak in decades, Mr. Trump initiated another assault on public health and child safety. On Monday Mr. Trump issued an executive order to force states to revise their recommendations for children’s vaccinations. The order calls for recommending that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine be separated into three single-disease shots to be administered at separate appointments, although such separate vaccinations are not available in the U.S.
Trump claimed that “there could be a possibility that” the vaccines are “quite lethal” in an MMR shot. He also said that separating the vaccines means they will be “very effective.” In fact, years of evidence have proved that the MMR vaccine is safe and effective.
Separating MMR into three separate shots over three separate appointments makes no sense from a public health, child safety, economic or parental convenience point of view. What it will do is increase confusion, lower vaccination rates, cost parents more money and increase the number of measles, mumps and rubella cases in America. As a result more children will die, become damaged by disease complications and increase healthcare costs while achieving zero benefits.
Rich DiPentima, RN, MPH
Portsmouth, N.H.
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Deliberate Destruction of Conditions of Life
To the Editor
The United Nations Genocide Convention includes “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part” among the acts that can constitute genocide.
South Africa made this specific prohibition central to its case against Israel before the International Court of Justice. While a final ruling on the merits may take years, the ICJ has already ordered Israel to “take all measures within its power” to prevent acts prohibited by the Convention, prevent and punish direct and public incitement to commit genocide, enable humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, and preserve evidence.
The scale of destruction in Gaza has led Israeli human-rights organizations and scholars to conclude that Israel is deliberately creating conditions incompatible with Palestinian life in the Gaza Strip. It also raises the question of whether the United States, through weapons transfers and diplomatic protection, is complicit in genocide.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel issued a July 2025 report titled Destruction of Conditions of Life: A Health Analysis of the Gaza Genocide. It concludes:
“Though Israel has cited military necessity… the scale, pattern, and nature of the operations, as well as accompanying statements, indicate a broader policy aimed at destroying Palestinian society in Gaza and making the enclave uninhabitable.”
The report argues that the targeted destruction of hospitals, obstruction of medical aid, and the killing and detention of over 1,800 health care workers reveal a “deliberate and systematic dismantling of Gaza’s health and life-sustaining systems.”
Israeli architect Eyal Weizman makes a related argument in his 2026 book, Ungrounding: The Architecture of Genocide. He documents how Israel’s demolition of Gaza has made the territory unrecognizable and unlivable.
Weizman describes Gaza’s systematic destruction: “[M]ost of the Gaza Strip—cities, refugee camps, schools, universities, mosques, the health infrastructure, agriculture, wells and the soil itself—has been destroyed and made toxic by bombs, artillery, tank shells and sappers [combat engineers].”
He adds that “the most systematic destruction was caused by D9 bulldozers made by the U.S. company Caterpillar.” An Israeli bulldozer operator in Gaza says that if Palestinians return to where their homes stood, “All they will find is sand.”
As Weizman puts it, “Ungrounding… aims to remove a society from its place and erase all traces to its previous existence.”
B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization that documents violations in the Occupied Territories, reached a similar conclusion in its July 2025 report, Our Genocide, stating that Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip “constitutes a coordinated attack on all aspects of Palestinians’ life.”
In B’Tselem’s words, this is “a clear and explicit attempt to destroy Palestinian society in Gaza and create catastrophic living conditions that prevent the continued existence of this society in Gaza. That is precisely the definition of genocide.”
What evidence supports the claim that the United States is complicit in the genocide in Gaza? The Genocide Convention makes direct and public incitement to commit genocide, attempted genocide, and complicity in genocide punishable offenses. Under the Convention, rulers, public officials, and private individuals may be held responsible.
Since October 2023, the United States has provided Israel with billions of dollars in military aid, including thousands of 2000-pound bombs that have been used in densely populated urban areas. It has also provided Israel with diplomatic protection at the United Nations, despite mounting evidence of widespread civilian casualties and blocked humanitarian aid.
Public rhetoric has also caused concern. Some members of Congress have called for nuking Gaza, “bouncing the rubble,” or turning the territory into a parking lot. One House member also questioned whether any civilians in Gaza should be considered innocent. Such statements can be understood as dehumanizing or as endorsing indiscriminate destruction.
Recognizing that deliberately creating conditions for the impossibility of life is genocide is not just a matter of language. It requires action to end the destruction, protect those who remain, and hold accountable all who enable it.
Terry Hansen
Grafton, Wisconsin