Candy Tax not very sweet

March 20, 2007 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Issues, Rant 

CandySometimes you have to wonder what some folks under the golden dome in Concord are smoking. Why do so many reps have an “I have to save the world” complex?

What I’m talking about is one of the stupidest bills I’ve ever seen-a bill to tax candy. Not just tax it, but create an entire new taxation system supposedly to fund education but it seems to your humble narrator that the costs of compliance and enforcement will be far greater than the revenue. Read more

Dumping on the Dumpster Rules

February 12, 2007 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: News 

Recently I interviewed John Croteau about this ridiculous, selectively enforced dumpster-fencing rule in Keene. Go to www.wkbkam.com and select “streaming audio”. You’ll find the interview in my archives. Tip: for some unknown reason you can download the interview with Firefox but only stream it in IE unless the station has fixed the problem. If you’d like a download link to the interview email me at ericscottshow AT gmail DOT com.

Hands down to hands-free

January 22, 2007 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Hypocrisy 

Cel PhoneOnce again the NH Legislature is showing its increasingly anti-freedom bent by trying to ban the use of handheld cellphones while driving.

The following paragraph is from www.stateline.org:

“A University of Utah study released in February found that 18- to 25-year-old drivers talking on a cell phone with a headset reacted as slowly as 65- to 74-year-old drivers without cell phones. Older drivers also reacted more slowly while talking on cell phone, the report said. Wireless phone companies, on the other hand, point to research that using a cell phone is among the least common distractions for drivers. A 2003 study funded by AAA found that fiddling with radio dials, eating and drinking, talking with passengers, grooming, reading and writing were more common activities for drivers than talking on a phone.”

Allow me to put this another way. Read more

Another email to Representative Burridge

January 17, 2007 by · 9 Comments
Filed under: Uncategorized 

The following is an email I sent to representative Burridge regarding his conduct and HB92

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Dear Representative Burridge,

I would like to take the time to write you regarding your stand on HB92, as well as your remarks to my colleague, Toby Iselin.

You claim to represent the people here in Keene. As such, you must be approachable. Your constituents must trust that they can approach you with their concerns about pending legislation. You have betrayed that trust by forwarding a constituent’s email to the local police department.

Read more

Another response to Rep. Burridge

January 17, 2007 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Uncategorized 

Count me in as someone who astounded at Mr. Burridge’s reply to Toby’s email. I not only covered this on WKBK this morning (shameless plug: go to wkbkam.com and select streaming audio to hear the show) but drafted my own response to him. I’ve also been trying to reach Executive Councilor Deb Pignatelli about Mr. Burridge’s conduct toward one of his constituents. Her office number is 603-888-5245 but has been out of order today, probably due to the ice storm. Below is my email response. Read more

Jail debate all locked up

January 9, 2007 by · 3 Comments
Filed under: Essay 

JailAs most residents of Cheshire county know, the debate over where to site the new county jail has been going on for many years, primarily bcause of a convoluted system that pits one group against another like kids fighting to be king of the hill.

There is the county delegation charged with finding a suitable site, but the 20+ member county commission is in charge of the pursestrings-and neither group can agree on anything other than 1.they can’t agree and 2. the price tag keeps rising the longer the delay. It’s obvious (at least to me) that left alone,these folks will continue to endlessly debate and ultimately do nothing but accuse each other of being the problem. Read more

100 hours and the first disappointment

January 8, 2007 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Corruption, Hypocrisy, National, Rant 

So the Democrats sweep into office, most of them not smart enought to know that a good chunk of those votes weren’t FOR them, but AGAINST Bush, the Patriot Act, the war, runaway spending, tax cuts for the super-rich and other foot-on-a-banana peel moves by the Republicans. Then comes this list of “100 hour promises” by Speaker Pelosi, who must have learned about the political process from the Governor Moonbeam School of Populism. Raise the minimum wage? Please. Who makes $5.15 an hour? Even the much-vilified Wal-Mart’s starting wage is $7.50 an hour in Manchester. Ethics reform? Right. Eliminate travel on corporate jets? Fine, but no rule against first-class commercial travel is there? I’ve seen Swiss cheese with fewer holes than this “reform”. The Democrats have chosen to pick the lowest-hanging fruit to mollify an angry electorate into thinking they’ve done something. They promise a 5 day work week-and the VERY FIRST DAY they take off for (wait for it) a COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME! Evidently the terms “first 100 hours” and “5 day week” have different meanings inside the Beltway than the rest of the country. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

A few things that bug me to start….

January 8, 2007 by · 6 Comments
Filed under: Rant 

First, allow me to say I’m very excited to be part of FreeKeene, and to start with please allow me to ask some rhetorical questions.

1. Why don’t people read? I recently was perusing the Dell customer forums to get an answer to a minor technical problem, and came across an interesting thread. There were many people upset that they didn’t get the 0% financing they were “promised”. A quick skim of the terms said clearly that it was available only to well-qualifed buyers, and not all accounts would qualify. Further, the terms stated the interest rates would be based on credit score and could range up to 29.9%. I then read with amazement that people were complaining about the interest rates! I have a Dell account, and the rate was clearly disclosed before I bought anything. If they don’t like the terms, why did they use the account? Read more

That Irritating Free Market

January 2, 2007 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Essay 

If you peruse this site, sooner or later you’re going to come across a phrase. It’s a phrase that, frankly, irritates me a little. That phrase is: “free market.”

Now, I don’t want to convey the wrong idea. Readers are probably already thinking that I am somehow against the idea of the free market. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s the phrase itself that I don’t like.
Read more



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