The New Hampshire Gazette Postage Paid Portsmouth, N.H
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First Class U.S. A Non-Fiction Newspaper The New Hampshire Gazette Postage Paid Portsmouth, N.H. Vol. CCLVIII, No. 3 The Nation’s Oldest Newspaper™ • Editor: Steven Fowle • Founded 1756 by Daniel Fowle Permit No. 75 Address Service Requested November 1, 2013 PO Box 756, Portsmouth, NH 03802 • [email protected] • www.nhgazette.com Th e Fortnightly Rant Armistice Day Plus 95 Maine and New Hampshire motion passed by a unanimous are connected once again, thanks voice vote, the entire proceeding to the New Memorial Bridge; taking twenty seconds.† pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor- Nine months later, on January ists can stroll or ride or drive with 22, 2013, Assistant City Manager ease across the mighty and turbu- David Allen gave the City Coun- lent Piscataqua. cil a six-minute presentation on Th e bronze eagle and accompa- the preliminary plans for a me- nying plaques from the old bridge, morial constructed in part from salvaged and restored, have now granite footings from the original been mounted on the new south- bridge, which would be cut, re- ern portal — exquisite pieces of fi nished, and made into separate artwork bridging our mundane blocks, each honoring a separate present to more elegant days early branch of the armed services. in the last century. One year after the proposal was Rounding out this profusion of fi rst aired, on April 1st of this civic propriety one hundred yards year, James Teetzel and landscape southwest of the magnifi cent old architect Roberta Woodburn pre- bronze eagle, a new Veterans Me- sented a much-modifi ed memo- morial Circle has been construct- rial plan. ed at no cost to the City of Ports- Due to a shortage of material mouth or its resident veterans. the original plan was scrapped. Th e timing could not be better: Th e few blocks available would just ten days from now we’ll ob- instead be stacked to create a serve what used to be called Ar- vertical central feature: a foun- mistice Day, commemorating the tain adorned with inspirational has 30 more pending, accord- it sells only to the Defense De- country. What’s wrong with that? end of the War to End All Wars. wording. Recirculated by a pump, ing to the Award-Winning Lo- partment and law enforcement. Let’s look at it another way: a What could possibly be wrong water would pour from an open- cal Daily. His company, Wilcox And sell it does. A few years man who has not served in uni- with this picture? ing in the top and gently cascade Industries, manufactures highly ago Wilcox landed a $177 million form but derives his considerable Th at’s the job of the journalist, down, washing over the surface of specialized gadgets for use by U.S. contract to replace worn night- income from martial confl ict and now, isn’t it — looking for fl ies in the stones. Th e central fountain Special Forces. He’s Newington’s vision helmet mounts which were who supports only politicians the ointment?* would be surrounded by two con- Tony Stark, without all the public used in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ten from a bellicose political party, Regarding Th is Gift Horse … centric granite circles, with a fl ag- boozing and womanizing. such devices are off ered on the pays a tiny fraction of his income Th e city’s newest veterans’ me- pole and a bronze medallion for If that comparison seems over- company’s website, at unit prices to honor the worker/soldiers who morial was fi rst proposed at a each branch of the armed forces. blown, visit his company’s web- ranging from $407 to $1,787. risk their lives, using tools that he City Council meeting on April At some point, though, the foun- site, WilcoxInd.com. It’s got videos Morbid curiosity prompted us provides for a profi t, to defend a 2, 2012. Mayor Eric Spear noted tain fell by the wayside. of parachute drops seen through to look at the Teetzels’ political political and economic system in that a letter had been received Our Patron night-vision goggles, weapons campaign donations. Since 2002, which the middle class has been from Attorney James Noucas, Jr. James Wilcox Teetzel is a me- bristling with enigmatic black the couple has given to three treading water since 1980. informing the Council that James chanical engineer who made dingbats, and a soundtrack right New Hampshire Republicans, Jeb Perhaps the proper question is, and Laurie Teetzel were pledging good. He holds 18 patents and out of Iron Man, complete with Bradley, Judd Gregg, and John what’s right with this picture? $25,000 towards its construction. gunfi re. E. Sununu, as well as California’s To which we’d say, this: Teetzel Councilor Anthony Coviello † According to the minutes of ArtSpeak, Whatever one thinks of the de- Duncan Hunter and Maine’s Su- has given us a perfect meta-mon- the city’s cultural commission, the Teetzels’ moved that the letter be referred off er was discussed on July 30, 2012. fense industry in general, Wilcox san Collins, also Republicans. Th e ument. Its surface honors those to Art-Speak, the City’s art com- ArtSpeak would “set up meeting to speak certainly does a lot of things right. total: $23,500. who put their lives at risk for their mission, for a report back. Th e with donor, city reps, and ArtSpeak,” at A promotional video on its web- What’s Right With Th is Picture? country, while the circumstances which the commission would “outline * Th e fl oor of our Mash Notes, Hate Mail, the process for public art and funding site says over 90 percent of their A successful businessman has of its creation refl ect a politi- and Other Correspondence Department for outdoor sculpture.” Th e minutes of workforce comes from the Sea- put up his own money to grace cal and economic system which has been reinforced to accommodate the subsequent ArtSpeak meetings contain fl ood of complaints we expect this piece to no references to the project that we could coast, all the company’s products a piece of city property with a hardly seems to deserve the sac- generate, so don’t hold back. fi nd. are manufactured in the U.S., and memorial to those who serve our rifi ces it demands. Th e Alleged News The American Nightmare Dare to fl oat a proposal in to- for infl ation, the minimum wage istration of Bush the Lesser, un- are enrolled in one or more public dent Obama’s soul-destroying day’s marketplace of ideas that today — $7.25 an hour — is the til Congress passed a three-stage programs, compared to 25 per- stimulus package but, like George contradicts Republican dogma same as it was 63 years ago. increase in 2007. Eighty-two cent of the workforce as a whole,” W. Bush’s tax cuts, they came with and you will be accused of waging Th at’s a dismal picture but House Republicans voted for the and “the cost of public assistance an expiration date. Unlike Bush’s class warfare. Th ere’s a reason for it could be worse — and it was, bill, which just goes to show how to families of workers in the fast- temporary tax cuts, which Con- that — it’s called projection. during the Reagan and Bush #43 long fi ve years can be in politics. food industry is nearly $7 billion gressional Republicans wanted As their approval ratings cra- Administrations. Th ese days they’d be drummed per year.” to live forever, the food stamp in- ter and journalists debate how For nearly thirty years, from the out of the party as Socialists. Th e GOP’s Mandatory Diet crease must DIE! many election cycles the Party mid-1950s until 1980, the mini- Want SNAP With Th ose Fries? Apparently we can expect Not Dead Enough Yet can withstand before it succumbs mum wage ran about $2 infl a- Late last month labor activ- people relying on food stamps, It’s not enough that Obama’s to the inevitable and retreats to a tion-adjusted dollars higher than ists released a tape recording of a aka the Supplemental Nutrition food stamp increase will end redoubt in the Old Confederacy, its current value. Th e nation never McDonald’s corporate help line Assistance Program (SNAP), to — Republicans want to cut the the GOP is doing to America had it so good. instructing a ten-year company become more svelte soon — as program by another $40 billion what Sherman did to Georgia: Th en, during the administration employee how to apply for food of today, their benefi ts are being over the next decade. Th e Center waging one last, savage campaign of the aff able old Gipper, infl ation stamps, heating assistance, and cut by 13 percent. Among those on Budget and Policy Priorities to destroy what’s left of the mid- steadily lowered the value of the Medicaid. aff ected, according to the Center analyzed the eff ects this would dle class. And they’ll call it saving dollar. With no statutory increase, A study released October on Budget and Policy Priorities: “deny SNAP to approximately the nation. minimum wage workers watched 15th by the Labor Center at UC 900,000 veterans, 5,000 of them 3.8 million low-income people in Disservice With a Smile their pay drop by one-third. Berkeley showed that “more than in New Hampshire. Th e Federal minimum wage A slightly less-dramatic ero- half (52 percent) of the families Th ose benefi ts had been in- Th e Alleged News law is now 75 years old.