Matt Simon Bloghttp://www.nhinsider.com/matt-simon/en-US2010-02-09T19:06:57ZSquarespace Site Server v5.9.1 (http://www.squarespace.com/)Is It Okay To Make Elected Officials Feel Uncomfortable?http://www.nhinsider.com/matt-simon/2009/11/5/is-it-okay-to-make-elected-officials-feel-uncomfortable.htmlMatt Simon2009-11-06T04:18:18ZThere's quite a lively discussion going on over at BlueHampshire.com, where Manchester activist Brinck Slattery has posted a controversial Election Day video featuring Senator Betsi DeVries (who voted against medical marijuana), Senator Maggie Hassan (who voted in favor of medical marijuana), and  disabled veteran Ronald Mitchell.  Ron's doctor has told him that medical marijuana would improve his quality of life and allow him to dramatically reduce his intake of prescription pain medicines, so he wasn't too happy with his Senator being one of the 10 who voted to kill the bill.

Assuming NHInsider readers would prefer to make up their own minds about this encounter, here's the video:

Comment away!

]]>Medical Marijuana Vote Comes Down to the Wirehttp://www.nhinsider.com/matt-simon/2009/10/26/medical-marijuana-vote-comes-down-to-the-wire.htmlMatt Simon2009-10-26T20:26:00ZWith several legislators still appearing to be undecided, the fight to pass a medical marijuana law in New Hampshire is coming right down to the wire.  Now that the Obama administration has clarified its medical marijuana policy, and now that the U.S. attorney for New Hampshire has announced that his office will not prosecute patients under federal law, it's clear that a simple vote by the New Hampshire legislature is all that's necessary to protect seriously ill patients from arrest if their doctors recommend medical marijuana.

The House and Senate will cast their final votes this Wednesday, and it will only be necessary to gain two votes in the Senate to receive the 2/3 majorities that would be necessary for a veto override.  (The House vote was 232-108, or 68%, and the Senate vote was 14-10).

If you'd like to see this bill finally pass, please click here to send a quick message to your legislators and visit NHCompassion.org to learn more.

 

]]>If you think the Drug War only harms "druggies"...http://www.nhinsider.com/matt-simon/2009/9/20/if-you-think-the-drug-war-only-harms-druggies.htmlMatt Simon2009-09-21T02:59:27ZIn the last 14 months, the astonishing and tragic story of this small town mayor has helped to put certain aspects of the "War on Drugs" into perspective for a lot of people.  Seriously, how would you feel if a SWAT team raided your house, shot and killed your family dogs, and you turned out to be completely innocent of any crime?!?! 

How would you then feel if the police refused to even admit they had acted wrongly?  Believe it or not, this nightmare actually happened to the author of the article, Cheye Calvo, who is mayor of Berwyn Heights, Maryland.  Calvo explains:

In the words of Prince George's County Sheriff Michael Jackson, whose deputies carried out the assault, "the guys did what they were supposed to do" -- acknowledging, almost as an afterthought, that terrorizing innocent citizens in Prince George's is standard fare. The only difference this time seems to be that the victim was a clean-cut white mayor with community support, resources and a story to tell the media.

What confounds me is the unmitigated refusal of county leaders to challenge law enforcement and to demand better -- as if civil rights are somehow rendered secondary by the war on drugs.

]]>Health Care: Embrace the Problem, Boycott the (John Mackey) Solutionhttp://www.nhinsider.com/matt-simon/2009/8/25/health-care-embrace-the-problem-boycott-the-john-mackey-solu.htmlMatt Simon2009-08-25T17:21:31Z
It's clear that most people who call themselves "progressives" believe that health care is, or should be considered, a right. But did you know that to some truly special progressives, there is a right that is considered even more sacred and important?

I'm talking, of course, about the right to be able to put people and their ideas into convenient little boxes and file them away for easy, comfortable storage. Conservatives often demonstrate their belief in this phony "right" as well, but since they are not the ones who are ridiculous enough to boycott Whole Foods Market, the conservatives get off scot-free in this column.

So, the progressives... Yes, most of these folks were strong proponents of free speech back when George W. Bush was in the White House, but the times, they are a changin'.

So what happened? Did Whole Foods do something terrible to incur their wrath? No, as a matter of fact, Whole Foods is one of the most forward-thinking, conscientiously operated businesses in the world.

What happened is that the company's founder and CEO, John Mackey, politely and constructively expressed an opinion in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. Since the article was published, protestors have stood in front of Whole Foods Market protesting Mackey as if he was some typical corporate executive bozo.

What did Mackey write to provoke all this attention? Did he suggest that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States? Did he admit there were some chemicals in his store's arugula? Nope, he just refused to fit into the little box of what people expect from the CEO of an organic supermarket.

Consider the argument proffered by a new Facebook group, called "Boycott Whole Foods!", which today topped 28,000 members:


John Mackey, CEO and co-founder of Whole Foods wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on August 12, 2009 quoting Margaret Thatcher and suggesting that healthcare is a commodity that only the rich, like him, deserve.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html

Whole Foods has built its brand with the dollars of deceived progressives. Let them know your money will no longer go to support Whole Foods' anti-union, anti-health insurance reform, right-wing activities.


Of course, Mackey doesn't say that only the rich deserve health care. The reforms he proposes in the article are intended to make quality health care truly available and affordable to all citizens.  In fact, Mackey's controversial article makes more sense than anything else I've read on the health care subject all summer, and I strongly recommend it.

Anyway, the article speaks for itself. Read it, and think... it's a free country, right?

As for boycotts, they are great for companies that actually cause harm to society, not so great for companies which actually go all out to help solve the world's problems.  The name John Mackey has for years been synonymous with the term "conscience capitalism," but now he must either crawl back into somebody's little ideological box or risk the possibility that his universal health care loving customers will suddenly lose their taste for walnut pesto. 

Personally, I wish Mackey would run for an office higher than CEO of Whole Foods.  I'll bet his employees would vote for him.

 

(Funny, I seem to remember Obama himself mentioning Whole Foods on the campaign trail.  I wonder if any of his own family and friends are stupid enough to join this boycott?  I'll bet they aren't.)

]]>Telegraph to Governor: Sign Marijuana Billhttp://www.nhinsider.com/matt-simon/2009/7/1/telegraph-to-governor-sign-marijuana-bill.htmlMatt Simon2009-07-02T00:55:59Z 

The Concord Monitor, Nashua Telegraph, Union-Leader, and Seacoast Online newspapers have all editorialized in favor of HB 648 this year. Today the Telegraph explicitly called for Governor Lynch's signature. The editorial speaks for itself:

 

Governor, the time has come to do the right thing. Supporters of this bill have done everything you have asked. There is only one thing left to do.


Sign the bill.

 

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