Opinion

Contractors should have to post a bond

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Monitor editorial

On Monday the Monitor published yet another story about the victims of a contractor who took thousands of dollars up front from homeowners who wanted work done. Complaints about contractors who pocket the deposit and never perform the work, or do a shoddy job and disappear, outnumber almost any other in the annals of the attorney general's office. Often those contractors move down the road, set up a business under a new name and continue to bilk customers.

Lawmakers have sponsored legislation requiring the licensing of contractors in the past - an approach taken by many states to address the problem - but the bills failed to overcome opposition by the construction industry. Licensing, at least in New Hampshire, may be a bridge too far. But contractors, roofers and others who accept a deposit in excess of, say, $2,000 should be required to post a bond that would reimburse customers if the work is never done or done poorly.

Public health bill dying a quiet death

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

My Turn

An important piece of bipartisan public health legislation is dying quietly on the table in the New Hampshire Senate.

House Bill 1182 prohibits the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles and sippy cups. BPA is a chemical that makes plastic products heat resistant and shatterproof. BPA is classified as an endocrine-disrupting chemical. It is similar in structure to the DES drug (now banned) given to women in hopes of reducing pregnancy complications. BPA is also found on cash register receipts and in the lining of almost all canned foods and all aluminum canned beverages, including beer and seltzer. The average amount of leached BPA in one can of food is about the equivalent of one birth control pill.

'Monitor' blind to ethics violations

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

My Turn

I agree with the headline of the Monitor's May 18 editorial, "Ethics code could prevent problems." But the only way Concord's ethics code could really prevent problems is if it is understood and enforced so that people obey it.

The Monitor's editors take me to task for expecting councilors to obey the ethics ordinances and filing complaints when the ordinance appears to have been broken. Even before the board of ethics has met - and without anyone from the Monitor discussing the issue with me - the Monitor editorial board has proclaimed my complaints against Mayor Jim Bouley and Councilor Dan St. Hilaire to be "frivolous" and "baseless."

Nice to know where the Monitor is coming from; its news coverage can be judged with its bias in mind.

The pope has not spoken

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Letter

Colleen Domi O'brien, Manchester

Headline writers and some of our legislators have been claiming that the Catholic Church has sued the Obama administration. It has not.

Please note that Cardinal Timothy Dolan is not "the Catholic Church" and does not speak for the church; only the pope can do so officially.

The pope has not so spoken, either on the U.S. Affordable Care Act or the universal health systems common to other Western countries. Thirteen out of 195 U.S. dioceses have filed lawsuits. The other 182 have not. Thirty-two out of thousands of Catholic affiliated organizations in the United States have filed suits.

Leave the decision to patients, doctors

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Letter

Robert Sharpe, Arlington, Va.

Re "Legalize the medical use of marijuana" (Monitor editorial, May 23):

While there have been studies showing that marijuana can shrink cancerous tumors, medical marijuana is essentially a palliative drug. If a doctor recommends marijuana to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and it helps them feel better, then it's working.

In the end, medical marijuana is a quality-of-life decision best left to patients and their doctors. Drug warriors waging war on non-corporate drugs contend that organic marijuana is not an effective health intervention. Their prescribed intervention for medical marijuana patients is handcuffs, jail cells and criminal records. This heavy-handed approach suggests that drug warriors should not be dictating health-care decisions. It's long past time to let doctors decide what is right for their patients; sick patients should not be jailed for daring to seek relief from marijuana.

ROBERT SHARPE

Dangerous despot

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Letter

Ronda Macleod, Durham

I read that the state Republican Party is calling for the Monitor to issue an apology for Mike Marland's May 23 "Hitler" cartoon. They want it retracted and claim outrage. What's outrageous, though, are House Speaker Bill O'Brien's own actions.

I was taught that actions speak louder than words, and that words cannot hurt you if you know they are not true.

I would ask that each of these representatives look at how they and the speaker are acting. This legislative body is introducing ill-conceived, spiteful laws aimed at squelching our rights and doing nothing to create jobs or improve the economy.

O'Brien is indeed acting like a spoiled and dangerous despot. I take solace that he is only a state representative and cannot do damage on a larger, national level. If he does not like being compared to a disgusting, tyrannical lunatic, then perhaps he should act more like a responsible leader.

Truth hurts

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Letter

Virginia Kozlowski, Hooksett

Those demanding retractions and apologies for Mike Marland's May 23 editorial cartoon of the House Speaker Bill O'Brien with a Hitler mustache are no different from fundamental Islamists who demand death for cartoons of Mohammed.

I commend the Monitor for standing up against such protests, as they do not understand the basic need for true freedom of speech. Such howls of protest are prompted because the truth hurts.

VIRGINIA KOZLOWSKI

Hooksett

Wrong time for a backward step

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Letter

Sidney Schoeffler, Concord

I am alarmed to learn that Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which is the basis for the military's great work in support of clean, efficient, and domestically-sourced energy, may not be upheld in the U.S. Senate.

The United States is still far short of an acceptable position both in the adequacy of environmentally tolerable supply of energy and in the efficiency of its utilization. The current dramatic upswing in the supply of domestic natural gas is a large plus, of course. But what is still needed is a much-improved technology of using that gas, and cleaner sources yet, in accomplishing all three of our large national energy-related tasks: assuring the security of the country, protecting the environment, and re-building the economy. Accomplishing any one of these tasks would be quite a challenge. But accomplishing all three really needs all the intellectual resources we can muster.

Lynch drove me out of state

Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

My Turn

Medical marijuana made life bearable

It was a tragedy for me and my family when Gov. John Lynch vetoed the medical marijuana bill in 2009. When an effort to override the veto passed the House but failed by two votes in the Senate, my hopes for a healthy future in New Hampshire were crushed.

Sixteen states plus the District of Columbia now offer legal protection for patients if their doctors recommend marijuana. Connecticut is on the verge of becoming the 17th state. Sadly, patients whose doctors recommend marijuana in New Hampshire have no choice but to sneak around, buying from the black market and living in constant fear of arrest.

I can attest to that fear. And now that I have moved from Manchester to Vermont, I can attest to the much more beneficial alternative, which is peace of mind. Legislators and Lynch should consider my story before casting final judgment on SB 409.

Schools should care about all the Kelseys

Thu, 24 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Monitor editorial

Children and teens with emotional and behavioral problems can drive parents and educators to distraction. They are far more likely to drop out of school, get into trouble with the law and be unemployed. Kelsey Carroll was one of them, but she made it.

Carroll's life during her senior year at Somersworth High School, and how enlightened educators helped her turn it around, is the subject of a new film by Dan Habib, the resident filmmaker at the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability and the Monitor's former longtime photo editor.

The film, Who Cares About Kelsey?, is airing now at Red River Theatres in Concord, and it will be shown to assemblies at Concord High School and Pembroke Academy. It is a must-see for anyone who works with children, parents struggling to understand and help their child, policymakers, people in law enforcement and anyone who likes a good story.