http://www.bushfish.org/index.html

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid." - President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 11/8/54

from sirotablog

On Friday, May 6, nearly twenty people from the NH peace and justice community took part in an action inside and outside of Senator Gregg's Concord office. At noon, six people presented staff at Senator Gregg's office with a THIRD request for a public meeting with the Senator to discuss exit strategies from Iraq. They then proceeded to do a five-hour "Read-In," in which they read the names of US soldiers and Iraqi civilians killed in Iraq since March, 2003. (This action has taken place in both Maine and Illinois senate offices.) The office staff permitted the activists to stay and were respectful. (Upon arrival, the activists said they did not intend to disrupt the office and would leave at close of business.) At 5 pm, the office staff were asked if they wanted to read some names; all declined, but were clearly moved by the action when approached about joining in the reading. The group left peacefully and promptly at 5 pm with no arrests.

Outside the Senator's office activists held banners, including one that said: "Sen. Gregg, what's the plan? US troops and Iraqis dying for an exit strategy." Names of killed US soldiers and Iraqi civilians were also read in front of Senator Gregg's office, and passersby were invited to join. There were many, many, positive honks and gestures from passing cars. The public is with us.

THE CAMPAIGN CONTINUES. Until we hear from Senator Gregg about our most recent request, we have one representative for peace and justice sitting in at Senator Gregg's Concord office EVERY WEEKDAY from 4 to 5 pm. PLEASE HELP US BY VOLUNTEERING TO SIT FROM 4 TO 5 PM AT THE SENATOR'S OFFICE ONE (OR MORE) DAYS IN MAY. Multi-tasking by reading, writing, knitting, etc., is fine. We are leaving at 5 pm when the office closes. Please let me know if you can help--we need to "staff" the office this Friday and several days next week, and the week after that.

If we don't have a public meeting with Senator Gregg secured by late May, we will have another action at his office and again risk arrest. Please let me know if you're interested in joining us and helping with the planning.Peace matters.

Anne Miller
DirectorNew Hampshire Peace Action
anne@nhpeaceaction.org
603 228 0559
www.nhpeaceaction.org

form nhpeaceaction yahoo group

If you missed my earlier post, SB 125 repeals health status and geographic location as rating factors for small group health insurance, and also clarifies overall premium rate variability (3.5 to 1 ratio and 20% cap) and premium rates for small employer groups with similar case characteristics.

Laurie McCray, a registered nurse of Portsmouth, NH brings up a good point to me about sb125 in an email.
She writes,

It will not necessarily make health insurance more affordable, just less discriminatory. Even with proposed changes, most of the small businesses I've personally interviewed in Portsmouth will still not be able to offer an affordable plan to their employees. And, any plan with a high deductible denies economic access to many folks no matter what the premium is. But, until we have universal health care and insurance companies are run out of town, SB125 is a way better option than SB110 (as long as you are under 50 years of age)! Check out www.pnhp.org
if you think readers of your bulletin really want a fair and equitable health care system for all.

Democrats have a lot of challenges ahead - stopping the hard-right's agenda, fighting for the progressive cause, and pushing back against the GOP in Congress, to name a few. So it is truly disheartening to see today's new Roll Call story showing that, instead of fighting all these important battles, "moderate" Democrats are spending a huge amount of their time crying like infants and making baseless charges against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).

It would be one thing if they had a serious, substantive complaint against Pelosi. Yet, according to Roll Call, these "moderates" are still whining simply because Pelosi a few weeks ago had the nerve to tell the truth and level with Democrats who sold out the party by supporting the credit card-industry written bankruptcy bill. In other words, all she did was tell the truth and try to keep her party together - exactly what a LEADER is elected to do. For Democrats who desperately need to project strength and resolve, this whining and crying is just another example of "moderates" once again undermining the party at the worst possible time."

Moderates say they are waiting for action, not apologies, from Pelosi," the story says about these political crybabies. "They say they want the Minority Leader to show that moderate and conservative Democrats are part of party decision-making..." Funny, last I checked, these "moderates" are not only "part of party decision-making" but they have actually taken over decision making for the party by abandoning the party on key votes, sending the embarrassing message to America that Democrats are divided on the most fundamental middle-class economic concerns. In fact, these "moderates" have been so assertive in making such destructive decisions on behalf of the party, the right-wing Washington Times is now bragging about them - a true sign of disgrace. The paper notes:

"So far this year in the House, 50 Democrats helped pass class action reform...42 joined in legislation repealing the death tax, 73 supported the bankruptcy bill...[and] 41 joined the Republicans on the final version of the energy bill."

Sadly, that sure as hell sounds like "moderates" are more than just "a part" of the decision making process.

Roll Call additionally notes that these "moderates" want to know that "that their views — even when different from the liberal majority of the party — are understood and respected." The flat-out answer here should be easy: NO. Pelosi is right to let her colleagues know that when they undermine the majority of Democrats who are courageously defending ordinary Americans, there will be no "understanding" or "respect." There will be exactly the opposite - that's the kind of tough discipline the Republicans used to build their majority, and that's how Democrats will ultimately build theirs. Pelosi and the Democratic leadership should ignore these sad crybabies who are undermining so many good Democratic foot soldiers in Congress, and press on the way they have been over the last few months.

NOTE: I put "moderate" in quotes because the term is a complete misnomer that really means Democrats who are willing to support the GOP's right-wing economic agenda when politically/financially advantageous. See my earlier piece in the Nation that more fully analyzes how the term "moderate" and "centrist" as used in today's political vernacular have nothing to do with reality.

from sirotablog

General Electric – the fifth largest company in the United States –- announced that it is devoting itself to what it calls "ecomagination": the growth of clean energy, clean water, and related technologies.

from C4AP

New York Times columnist John Tienery complains that the media spends too much time covering suicide bomb attacks. Tienery argues that if the media scaled back coverage, people would understand "that their odds of being killed by a terrorist are minuscule in Iraq."

from C4AP

Ford, G.M. sales down as buyers spurn SUVs and look for fuel efficiencyDetroit automakers Ford and G.M. are cursing Prius drivers right about now. Sales figures and market share for both companies were down in April, as car buyers turned their fickle affections from gas-gulping SUVs to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles -- specifically those manufactured by Asian rivals Toyota and Nissan. In fact, Toyota reports that April was the most successful month in its history, with sales up 21.3 percent from April 2004, thanks in large part to booming demand for its hybrid Prius and other gas-sipping vehicles. A Ford sales analyst acknowledged the role of record gas prices in decreased SUV sales, but G.M. argued that gas prices weren't making much of a difference, pointing to an increase in large truck sales.

straight to the source: The New York Times, Jeremy W. Peters, 04 May 2005

A leaked document that appeared in a British newspaper offered clear new evidence that U.S. intelligence was shaped to support the drive for war. Though the information rocked British Prime Minister Tony Blair's re-election campaign when it was revealed, it has received little attention in the U.S. press.

The document, first revealed by the London Times (5/1/05), was the minutes of a July 23, 2002 meeting in Blair's office with the prime minister's close advisors. The meeting was held to discuss Bush administration policy on Iraq, and the likelihood that Britain would support a U.S. invasion of Iraq. "It seemed clear that Bush had made up his mind to take military action, even if the timing was not yet decided," the minutes state.

The minutes also recount a visit to Washington by Richard Dearlove, the head of the British intelligence service MI6: "There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."


Few other outlets have pursued the leaked memo's key charge that the "facts were being fixed around the policy." The New York Times (5/2/05) offered a passing mention, and the Charleston (W.V.) Gazette (5/5/05) wrote an editorial about the memo and the Iraq War. A columnist for the Cox News Service (5/8/05) also mentioned the memo, as did Molly Ivins (WorkingForChange.com, 5/10/05). Washington Post ombudsman Michael Getler (5/8/05) noted that Post readers had complained about the lack of reporting on the memo, but offered no explanation for why the paper virtually ignored the story.

In a brief segment on hot topics in the blogosphere (5/6/05), CNN correspondent Jackie Schechner reported that the memo was receiving attention on various websites, where bloggers were "wondering why it's not getting more coverage in the U.S. media." But acknowledging the lack of coverage hasn't prompted much CNN coverage; the network mentioned the memo in two earlier stories regarding its impact on Blair's political campaign (5/1/05, 5/2/05), and on May 7, a short CNN item reported that 90 Congressional Democrats sent a letter to the White House about the memo-- but neglected to mention the possible manipulation of intelligence that was mentioned in the memo and the Democrats' letter.


A May 8 New York Times news article asserted that "critics who accused the Bush administration of improperly using political influence to shape intelligence assessments have, for the most part, failed to make the charge stick." It's hard for charges to stick when major media are determined to ignore the evidence behind them.

from F.A.I.R.

Although dreaming of one day being a heavy metal drummer, 15 year old Micah Hinton may be destined for engineering. The high school sophomore has designed a model car that uses a solar panel to create hydrogen fuel out of water. When the car is running, it converts that hydrogen back into ordinary water. As a result, the fuel source is never depleted, and the car never needs a fill-up. "It lasts forever," said Hinton, 15.

from Organic Consumers Association

The University of Hawaii has released a new study that shows people who consume processed meats have a 6,700% increased risk of pancreatic cancer over those who consume little or no meat products. The study was done over a period of seven years on nearly 200,000 people. Researchers pin the blame on sodium nitrite, a chemical used in nearly all processed meats, including sausage, hot dogs, jerkies, bacon, lunch meat, and even meats in canned soup products. Although these same meats can be purchased without sodium nitrite, consumers must seek the few products that are labeled as such. The USDA attempted to ban sodium nitrite in the 1970s, but was blocked by the meat industry, which relies heavily on the chemical to add color to processed meats, making them look more appealing. Author and nutritionist Mike Adams said of this and other similar study results, "Sodium nitrite is a dangerous, cancer-causing ingredient that has no place in the human food supply."

from Organic Consumers Assosication

On losing strategy watch I will point out things democrats do to ensure that they will continue to be in the minority. Here is a post from Atrios Blog:

Atrio's wonders if John Kerry still thinks he's running for president....

In his attacks upon Washington, Mr. Kerry is adopting a puzzling strategy that could work for a governor but not for someone who is an entrenched member of the Washington elite. In Louisiana, the senator also repeated his disagreeable habit of pandering, telling his red state audience that Massachusetts Democrats should not install a plank endorsing gay marriage in the party's platform because it would be divisive. State Democrats should ignore that advice, and Mr. Kerry would have been wiser to point out that gay marriage has proved to be anything but divisive in Massachusetts.

Recent House Votes

Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act - Vote Passed (416-9, 8 Not Voting)This House bill authorizes $1.3 billion in spending on vocational education for the 2006 fiscal year.
Rep. Charles Bass voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Federal Deposit Insurance Reform Act - Vote Passed (413-10, 10 Not Voting)The House voted to raise the amount of a bank deposit insured by the government from $100,000 to $130,000.
Rep. Charles Bass voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act - Vote Passed (368-58, 1 Present, 6 Not Voting)The House approved the conference report for the $82 billion supplemental spending bill to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Rep. Charles Bass voted YES......send e-mail or see bio

After Saturday's mid-term state convention, I now understand why NH can't seem to elect more democrats. We are so unorganized, lazy, and unwilling to listen to other opinions. (I use the term "we" to refer to the general party dems.) We couldn't even pass a resolution from Concord's town chair Alex Lee that would recommend adding structure, organization, and strategy as part of the town chairs job. The party heads were too worried about finding people to do the job. Would they rather have someone who just sat around doing nothing and expected to elect democrats? Honestly, if we can't even pass a simple recommendation to build the party base, how do we expect to elect any candidate?

We continue to settle for the status-quo. As soon as people raise their voices and criticize the party for continuing to settle for "good enough", we get shut out, disrespected, and shoved to the nose-bleed section. I understand the political world is harsh. However, I did not expect to face such opposition from my own party, especially from the likes of Chairwoman Kathy Sullivan. In fact, I feel like the republicans are more apt to listen to my opinions and at least respect what I have to say. That's a sad statement, but unfortunately true. And if I were Ms. Sullivan, I wouldn't go around throwing my own party members, elected officials, and supporters to the curb. She lost any respect I ever had for her.

Democrats in NH must stop believing the myth of NH as a "blue" state. Until we have a majority in the state House, Senate, Executive Council, and elect Fed. Senators and Congress-people, I see no reason why we should believe that NH leans left. I heard it said numerous times on Saturday that NH is "blue" or "purple". We are as red as red can be. The only reason we elected a democratic gov. is due to the unethical activities of former Gov. Benson. Taking the "I'm too scared to properly fund state programs and rather have it fall on the backs of those who can least afford it" pledge helped as well. I'm sick and tired of the status-quo. I'm sick of party leadership that does more following than leading. I'm sick of being disrespected. If this party doesn't get its act together really soon, they will loose elected officials, possible candidates, and support.

I thank Willy Cowie and Jon Easton for continuing their hard work. They stood up for what they believed in and wouldn't take no for an answer. These are the kind of people I want working for a better party, a better county, and a better NH. On Saturday, these two demanded answers. They demanded the party be held accountable. It wasn't a surprise when the were kicked to the curb again. At least people know who we are. It's really unfortunate that we must waste our time trying to get democratic support, rather than going after the real problem: the republicans. However, I don't think we need a party to tell us what we stand for. Maybe it's time we took a second look at what the party hasn't done for us and think about other options. I know I'm sick of their crap.

Alex Lee, Concord Democratic Committee Chair speaks on one of his proposed resolutions. Alex put up many reasonable resolutions at the convention on Saturday. Most amounted to nothing more then suggests but as you can see by the look on Jane Clemons face [right of Lee] most met with derision and resistance from party heads. The Democratic Party Delegates were much more receptive to Lee and many times voted AGAINST the state committees recommendation to pass his resolutions. Several shouting matches erupted as party leaders, particularly Clemons, repeated violated convention rules and rules of order. Often not allowing delegates to speak or generally causing confusion.

Fisher is planning to set up a manicure booth in front of the State Board of Barbering, Cosmetology and Esthetics offices in Concord on Monday, May 9, at noon. It is a criminal misdemeanor in New Hampshire to provide manicures, haircuts, massages or tanning services without a license from the board.

from Exter News-Letter