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Back when our national leader was harmlessly hosting a game show about how to run a business, one episode of his show stood out. The contestants’ challenge was to bake cupcakes and then sell them. The winner would be whoever made the most money selling their cupcakes. The result was having celebrities shake down other wealthy celebrity friends to pay as much as they would for a cupcake. Perhaps some fan (writer) of the show could confirm my recollection of some cupcakes selling for as much as $1,000 each. So here we are all these years later and the game show host is leading our nation. It now appears that millions of Americans will have to start selling their own cupcakes to provide food for their children and pay even more for healthcare for their families. Sorry folks, but if your GoFundMe page comes up short, you and your children may not be long for this world. Perhaps if we are going to enter a new “Golden Age” based on the earlier robber baron driven Gilded Age, the wealthy will have to start paying for room, board, clothing and healthcare for their servants as they did in the past. Another option, although not recommending it, would be to commit enough non-violent crimes to guarantee food, clothing and shelter at taxpayer expense, or over $54,000 per year per convict in NH.

I read the article about the additional parties that have joined the lawsuit in regard to the pink arm band protests in Bow.

New Hampshire legislation ending vehicle inspections brings out consternation in the auto mechanics. ‘There will be a lot more unsafe cars on the road,’ they say. Don’t be so quick to judge. Over the years, we’ve had a fair number of “questionable” vehicles tooling down the roadways. It will be no different going forward. Those of us who pay attention to sounds, noise, odors, and changes in car performance will go to our mechanic as we value the costly vehicles we drive. Those who push the limit, when a car starts to ask for help, will continue to drive until they can’t drive. Repairs are costly; waiting is more costly. Drivers will do as they see fit. Safety concerns like brakes and steering will be no more evident to the rest of us. Most accidents are driver awareness, not mechanical malfunction. I’ve had my car fail inspection because the mechanic said the tire wear is legal but won’t go another year. Not fair to fail my car early. The almighty inspection sticker is not a ransom bargaining chip.

It’s funny how our government held a big press conference for National Ice Cream Day, with officials praising ice cream like it’s a health food.

I see in the Monitor recently that the issue of “Freedom of Speech” in Bow persists. Angry adults continue to assert their right to harrass children on the schoolyard.

The New Hampshire State Council on the Arts lost a battle in the state’s budget deliberations. While an outpouring of citizen support saved the agency from total elimination, the severe cuts drop it to 56th place among all the states and territories. On July 10, 2025, six employees cleared out their desks, leaving the agency with one staff member and, due to the lack of a state match, the loss of nearly one million federal dollars. There is no money at all for granting to New Hampshire’s schools, communities, arts organizations or artists. A rough way to celebrate the agency’s 60-year anniversary.

It seems like political meetings at public libraries are increasing throughout the land. While this is legal, like smoking cigarettes is legal, is it really wise? When the pandemic struck, it was very encouraging to see how supermarkets were bastions of safety and good behavior. It was a beautiful thing to see how everybody put aside their differences. Likewise, we need our public libraries to equal or surpass the standards of common grocery stores.

As part of the recent budget bill, the bill provides an additional $75 billion to the Immigration and Customs Agency (ICE). Of the $75 billion, $45 billion is allocated for the expansion of detention centers and prisons. The agency’s previous annual budget ran between $9-10 billion. This is a 650% increase for the coming fiscal year. There is an increased effort by the Trump Administration to detain and deport immigrants of questionable status. But as the first six months have shown, residents who are here legally have also been detained without due process. Examples include Mahmoud Kahlil, a graduate student from Columbia University, and Rümeysa Öztürk, a doctoral student at Tufts University both detained for their support of human rights of Palestinian people.

I learned this week that the U.S. has military bases in 95 countries and is rapidly adding more. The American public did not ask for these. The people of the “host” countries were not consulted. The U.S. has nuclear weapons stored in many of these bases. In some countries, their own government doesn’t even know that we have nuclear weapons stored there.

Despite concerns from health care leaders and communities nationwide, Congress has passed legislation that includes the largest health care cuts in recent history.

As someone who has contacted U.S. Senators, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, and my Representative, Chris Pappas to voice my concerns about Israel’s military attacks not just in Gaza but also in the occupied West Bank where Israeli occupation forces protect illegal “settlers,” I have been disappointed with their continued overwhelming support for Israel.

I want to thank Governor Kelly Ayotte for passing a budget that puts New Hampshire families first. From increased funding for childcare and schools to protecting health services in rural areas, this budget reflects true compassion and commonsense. She's protecting the most vulnerable and keeping our free state free. Governor Ayotte is a leader who listens to all of her constituents and delivers on their priorities. That is my kind of public servant!

Dear Deportation Czar Tom Homan, after you deported eight men (reportedly two each from Cuba and Mexico, with the others from Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and apparently one from South Sudan) to Juba, you were widely quoted as saying: “They’re free, they’re no longer in our custody, they’re in Sudan. Will they stay in Sudan? I don’t know.” Here’s a tip for you: Sudan and South Sudan are separate countries. Juba is the capital of South Sudan. South Sudan became independent on July 9, 2011, after its 11 million people voted overwhelmingly to secede from Sudan. South Sudan is on the brink of a renewed civil war and the Trump administration advises U.S. citizens not to visit, owing to conflict and crime. But then again, that’s why you sent people there. The idea seems to be to exercise maximum cruelty, even if it is coupled with minimum knowledge.

Five hundred metric tons of American-grown food that was to feed 1.5 million starving children in foreign countries will soon be incinerated by the Trump administration. Millions of people, many children, will die of malnutrition because Trump wants supreme control. This issue is time-sensitive.

Back in early June the N.H. Lottery posted a notice about conversion of its website to a new and improved version on July 1. It boasted about new games and an improved functionality. Well July 1 came and they announced it worked fine on I-phone devices but was not working on Android play store. After several days the Android play store said the new download was available but all it did was put you in a loop to uninstall the current version and install the new version.

The NH Supreme Court has reaffirmed that the state must increase education adequacy payments (Monitor, July 1), but in so doing has provided no specific dollar amount or strict timetable for the legislature to act. It feels like back to the future — a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs (again) but a ruling with no teeth (again). This is not Groundhog Day. It is Groundhog Decade.

President Trump is reported to have told Congress to ignore the national debt and conclude the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” The spending bill would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. Currently the national debt stands at $36 trillion and costs us $1 trillion a year just to service that debt. That is 16% of total budget. Any increase in the debt means more even higher debt cost.

Pew Research Center estimates that 85% of white evangelical Protestants vote Republican and 75 % Latter-day Saints vote Republican. Christian Nationalism is a political ideology that advocates for national policies that are based on Christianity and Christian values. There appears to be a connection with white nationalism. Both the evangelical and Mormon denominations are predominately white.

Regarding James Mayotte’s letter “Peaceful Protests,” (July 1), I do wish that all peaceful protest remained peaceful. However, If I were being grabbed off the street by armed masked people who would not identify themselves, say where they were taking me, or letting me contact family, I might be grateful if passerbys intervened.

According to the Forbes 2025 Global Billionaire list, 902 billionaires live in the United States. Elon Musk tops the list, with Jeff Bezos third with an estimated net worth of $215 billion. For context it would take 75 years of spending over 13 million dollars annually to disburse one billion dollars.