Mash Notes, Hate Mail & Other Correspondence

Dear Editor, HB138-FN, allowing prisoners serving life sentences to be eligible for parole after 25 years, is currently before the New Hampshire House for an April 9th vote. This bill is by no means a get-out-of-jail-free card. It merely provides an opportunity for select individuals to be heard, to plead their case before the New Hampshire Parole Board. Only those who have shown genuine remorse and willingness to make amends by whatever means possible, have a clean record, have fulfilled all rehabilitation programs required of them, have demonstrated themselves to have transformed their lives within prison, and have a concrete and practical plan for success …

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To the Editor, HB 341 was recommended “Inexpedient to Legislate” (ITL) by a vote of 10-9. Write to the full House asking them to vote YES on ITL of HB 341: nhhouse@leg.state.nh.us. We’ve seen many similar bills that attempt to “urbanize” rural towns in New Hampshire by favoring high-density construction over single-family homes. These bills should be sent to the trash bin. At HB 341’s hearing, two out-of-state lobbyists were allowed to testify in favor; one from Virginia, another from Portland, Oregon. They are indicative of the strong national push espousing the “new urbanist” scam, which is based on the idea people do not want …

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To the Editor: When I moved to Portsmouth a few years ago I did not expect to encounter the ignorance of a white male in a truck pointing his index finger and thumb at me as if to shoot me while I was walking downtown, or a white woman knocking on my door because she could see that I was Black and questioned whether I had a right to be there, in my own home. I had no idea I would experience racism while shopping with my grandson on March 14, 2021 shopping at Aeropostale in the Mall at Fox Run. My grandson picked out …

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Dear Editor, “There’s not a big appetite to do things that actually don’t do anything to fix the problem,” said Republican Senator John Thune (S.D.). “I’m not attracted to something that doesn’t work,” said Republican Senator McConnell. What doesn’t work? Republican insistence on doing nothing about gun control doesn’t fix the problem. Time after time, multiple people are being gunned down. Even before we can grieve over the last mass murder, another gun rampage has happened. Doing nothing, time after time, doesn’t work. Let’s do better. Let’s regulate gun use like we regulate automobile use: license gun owners to use their weapons after they pass …

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To the Editor: I don’t know what has happened to my friend, Gerry Duffy. In the past I had considered him to be a reasonable and smart person. But the McIntyre project seems to have changed all of that. He was initially a supporter of both the first Redgate/Kane proposal, and the City Council that agreed to that plan. When the public rejected the plan and voted out all but one of the supporters of that plan, Mr. Duffy seems to have become a warrior against the new City Council, and a staunch advocate for the Redgate/Kane organization. At the same time, he regularly expresses …

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Dear Editor, “New Hampshire State Retirement System ranks last in New England in 2020 annual investment returns!” During a time when the stock market is booming under the leadership of President Trump, and continuing now, under Biden, it is surprising to learn that the New Hampshire Retirement System has posted the worst results in annual investment returns (ROI’s) with relation to other state retirement systems in New England, and elsewhere. The stock market performance during the Trump years in the White House skyrocketed from 18,000 points to over 32,000 + points, raising all sectors. One has to wonder where the money of New Hampshire retirees …

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