Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence

To the Editor: Palestinian authorities have concluded that Shireen Abu Akleh, killed in May in Palestine, was murdered with a bullet from a Ruger gun. Palestinian Attorney General Al-Khatib said tests showed that the bullet that killed Abu Akleh was a 5.56 mm round fired from a Ruger semiautomatic rifle, which is used by the Israeli military. This rifle is produced by Sturm Ruger whose headquarters are in Fairfield, Connecticut but it has a factory in Newport, N.H. It is possible that the weapon that took the life of this reporter was manufactured in New Hampshire. Abu Akleh was a prominent Arab journalist, known all …

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The unelected hard-right faction now in power on the Court is poised to allow the most restrictive laws possible to be applied to women’s bodies while ruling hands-off of regulating corporations whose products are harming our planet. by Lisa Graves The reactionary, right-wing legal movement powered by dark money appears to be on the brink of achieving a nearly 50-year goal of reversing Roe v. Wade. The leaked draft opinion obtained by Politico confirms the worst fears of anyone who took the reactionary right at its word: It’s simultaneously not a surprise and a punch to the gut. The most partisan Supreme Court justices in …

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by Jean Stimmell I was mesmerized by a scene I saw on TV at the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine: A group of neighbors with rifles guarding a suburban street leading into Kyiv against approaching tanks, their faces illuminated by fires they had lit in trashcans to keep warm, fearless and immovable, belting out in unison the Ukrainian National Anthem. When everything is on the line, we forget our differences and come together as one.  Of course, we do: as social animals, it has been bred into us. That’s why we have survived as a species. Although much less dire, I once was …

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To the Editor: The original plot was supposed to be a bloodless coup committed through scurrilous parliamentary maneuvering—a scheme that would block the peaceful transition of power and throw the election outcome into the courts. Evidence uncovered by the January 6th Committee suggests the plan was conjured up by the GOP nearly a year ahead of time with the support of thinktank advisors, state officials, and private sector megadonors. It might have worked except at the last minute, Vice President Pence refused to overstep his authority and play along. The insurrection that followed was a crude hail-Mary aimed at blocking the transfer of power through …

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Dear Sir: Welcome to America in Wonderland, the sequel. Written by Donald Trump and a group of Republican Governors, Legislators, pundits et al., America in Wonderland takes us down that famous rabbit hole into a world where truths are lies, facts are fiction, evil is good, reality is distortion, illegal is legal, scientists are quacks, and losers are winners. Where else but Wonderland would you see a director of a county public health department suspended for encouraging his staff to to get vaccinated against a disease that has killed over 800,000 Americans and sickened millions more? That is exactly what happened in Orange County Florida. …

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Once again, winter months are contributing to the exponential spread of Covid infections, summoning an official health alert. Despite Covid’s threats, vaccine and mask requirements via the executive branch are as likely in New Hampshire as snow at Mar-a-Lago. However, Republican leadership has acknowledged the risks to health by conducting business in spacious venues, the house meeting in Manchester, the senate in Concord. Despite improved accommodations, too many legislators refuse to wear masks, adding to the substantial risks imposed upon in-person public participants in governance, 2022. Business to be considered this session runs the gamut: New Hampshire seceding from the “United” States of America; targeting …

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