Posts

Pointing To A Direction

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  New Hampshire State Senator David Starr (R-Franconia) recently reported on legislative progress in Concord including asking his constituents to be “pointing out bills that you care about.” There is a bill that I care about and if it passes into state law would result in needed statewide economic development and especially local tax base relief across the expanse of senate district one which is everything north of Plymouth. Senate Bill 310 would allow two casinos in New Hampshire including 5,000 slot machines, 240 table games like blackjack and roulette and the increasingly popular sports betting. If this legislation passes these two casinos would generate at least $134 million dollars a year in revenue to the state treasury. Revenue that could be used to solve many of the issues that now plague the Granite State: better roads, better schools, family leave, more social workers and local property tax relief. What I do not understand is why Sen. David Starr is not a co-sponsor of Se

The Shrimp Po Boy.

This is my introductory blog for my new website. And welcome to my website! https://nhresources7.wixsite.com   In any case I recently leaned of the history and meaning of the shrimp po boy sandwich, and if you haven't tried its very good. And it goes like this this. 1922 was a time of great labor strife all across New Orleans with many and continual strikes across the city in virtually every industry. As a show of solidarity with the striking workers, who were hungry many restaurants quickly grabbed whatever ingredients were available, shrimp, red onions, creole sauce,lettuce and tomato on a hard french roll. And was called a Po Boy. The Po meaning poor for the striking workers that needed something to eat. And so it began. And they taste really good.    Very distinctive flavor.

Low Commodity Prices.

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The Wall Street Journal has had some good recent articles about low commodity prices, particularly in the agricultural sector. It's a reality and from a strategy perspective should be most interesting to see where this goes. Some basic economics would say that as supply leaves the market the prices should be coming up. But for whatever reason(s) this doesn't appear the be the case. And not strangely surprising the politicians aren't saying too much. Remember the Farm Bill? Low Commodity Prices Cause Many Things.

New Hampshire Robots In Dubai.

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To The Editor:    Governor Chris Sununu is headed over to Dubai for a robotics conference. My question is what will this do for New Hampshire?       There can be little doubt that in the evolving sphere of robotics technology there are some big things happening like life changing things. Many New Hampshire schools are now building robotics into their STEM curriculums and there an increasing defense industrial complex in the southern tier of this state that has ties to developing robotic technology.       But Chris Sununu is the Governor of New Hampshire and he isn’t the Commissioner of Education or Business and Economic Affairs and he is leaving the Granite State at a time when there are pressing leadership needs here, whether this is the unfinished state budget or continuing issues in health and human services, transportation infrastructure and more recently, the liquor commission.       In the past I’ve spoken to Governor Sununu when he was an Executive Counci

Desperation In Politics

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  If former senator Molly Kelly were a stronger gubernatorial candidate Gov. Chris Sununu might be in trouble, but she isn't.   Starting with his seriously flawed proposal to bring amazon to New Hampshire the performance of this governor has been essentially nothing.   All of his legislative initiatives from school vouchers to right to work crashed right along with parts of the state budget and contract negotiations with the state employees union. The first term governor shuffled the Department of Resources and Economic Development or infamous DRED to Business and Economic Affairs which is supposed to be advancing the state economy and creating jobs. But instead it picks winners and losers with the winners being mostly from Concord.   In the Granite State the next election is never more than two years away. This encourages performance by elected officials but it really doesn't work like this. Statewide political campaigns simply cost too much.   Almost right after her p

Restrictions On Free Speech

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  Kirby, Vermont resident Melanie Finn wants to restrict free speech and letter writers to the Caledonian Record.   "Limit length of letters. This paper needs more diverse, fresh voices on the letters page. Many other newspapers have such policies." Finn said. One would not need to look further than New Hampshire to see just how dangerously bad this would be.   All New Hampshire newspapers restrict length in one form or another. This isn't ideal but it's fair considering the rising costs of newsprint and the market competition newspapers face. These are also opinion letters not graduate level dissertations and some letter writers don't understand this. But the rest of the letter writing policies that exist in the Granite State are clear restrictions of free speech and constitutional rights.   This starts with one letter per month, geographical requirements for submission and with content has to be in alignment with the political philosophy of the editor. The N

The Biomass Vote In New Hampshire.

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Two days after the state primary will be a day of decision for New Hampshire.   The September 13th veto override day in Concord will determine if wood biomass energy production has a future in the Granite State. This vote could go either way.   If the political analysts and State house watchers are to be believed there are now about 107 swing votes in the 400 member house. Swing votes are undecided votes that are frequently characterized by horse trading which isn't a good thing especially with the permanent economic consequence and job losses to the North Country if this override fails.   In recent days the wood biomass industry has stepped it's presence with rallies at the State house plaza and the southern tier which is where I think these swing votes are all from.   There has to be a 3/5ths vote majority to override Gov. Chris Sununu. This vote will be close like razor thin close. It will be a history defining day for New Hampshire.