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Five Big Rocks (part three)
This is the third in a series of articles exploring five major hurdles I encountered to faith in Christianity, culminating in my deconversion:
1. The Problem of Evil
2. The Problem of Communication
3. The Problem of Scriptural Errancy
4. The Problem of Theological Incoherence
5. The Problem of Religious Toxicity
Read on...and get ready to rock on!
3. The Problem of Scriptural Errancy
The third rock is closely related to the second one, but I believe it deserves to stand on its own. Put simply, there are numerous factual, historical, textual, theological, and moral errors in the Bible—errors of such number, degree, and character as to cast serious doubt that the Scriptures are truly the work of a superior intelligence to that of man.
I have found that most mature Christians are not shocked by the common Biblical discrepancies brought up by unbelievers. After all, there is a whole segment of the Christian book market aimed at inoculating believers against such attacks on the integrity of Scripture, with books starting at 5 lbs, 3 inches thick. Like many readers, I grew up on John Haley's Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible, Gleason Archer's Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, and Norm Geisler's When Critics Ask. Soon after I was baptized, my Dad gave me a well-worn copy of Haley's handbook to equip me to handle the skeptic's arguments. I vaguely remember at the time being in awe of both the size of the book and the number of discrepancies it dealt with. However, whatever tiny seeds of doubt this engendered were quickly squashed by the excitement of my newfound faith and my increased involvement in church ministry.
I will say right from the outset that I am not a big fan of picking Biblical texts apart to find the minutest mistakes. Maybe it was my smart-aleck friend back in middle school who soured me on this kind of critical spirit. As a consequence, the present article will not be taking issue with where Cain got his wife (I can accept that it was his sister) or why rainbows appeared for the first time after Noah's Flood (I can accept that some measure of poetry is used in Bible stories—-after all, who can resist a rainbow for a happy ending?).
Having said this, the Bible's scientific and factual errors are some of the easiest to spot. By now, everyone should know about the classic rabbit who "chews the cud" (Leviticus 11:6; Deuteronomy 14:7). Lesser known is Jacob's hair-brained method of breeding spotted animals, in apparent defiance of the laws of genetics (but according to Genesis 30:37-43, it worked). John has previously written about the strange cosmology of the Hebrews, complete with its novel view of a firmament in the heavens, a flat earth, and a geocentric universe. A great many stories in the book of Genesis were preceded by the myths of Sumerian culture, from which the Torah borrows quite liberally. The situation is little improved when we come to the New Testament. Here demons are believed to cause epilepsy and muteness (Mark 9:17-22; Matthew 9:33) and an evil eye is feared for its bewitching powers. All this is indicative of primitive, pre-scientific worldview and outright superstition. If the Bible has no credibility in earthly matters, how can it be trusted in spiritual matters?
Other glaring errors take the form of contradictions and discrepancies. Did David take 700 or 7,000 horsemen from Hadadezer? (cf. 2 Samuel 8:3-4; 1 Chronicles 18:3-4). Did Solomon's horse stalls number 4,000 or 40,000? (cf. 1 Kings 4:26; 2 Chronicles 9:25). Was Ahaziah 22 when he began to reign or 42? (cf. 2 Kings 8:26; 2 Chronicles 22:2). How old was Jehoiachin when he began to reign—8 or 18? (cf. 2 Chronicles 36:9; 2 Kings 24:8). How about Jesus healing the blind man Bartimaeus as he was leaving Jericho (Matthew 20:29)....or was it he healed as Jesus entered Jericho? (Mark 10:46; Luke 18:35). One might attribute these problems to a scribal error and dismiss them with a smirk. Fine. The big question is, why weren't these obvious mistakes corrected millennia ago? They would have been easy to correct had someone actually known the correct answer! Of course, none of this would matter so much were it not for the fact that evangelical Christians claim the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.
Perhaps the most serious form of Scriptural errancy comes in the form of moral incongruence from—-of all characters—-God himself! The same God who "so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son" to save it (John 3:16), who is "not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9) is the God who is responsible for atrocities worthy of a whole new series of horror films (Tarantino, are you listening?). Atrocities like the global flood sent by God (if the story is taken at face value) to maliciously drown every man, woman, child, and animal (Genesis 7:4). What Christian hasn't been shocked by the methodical cruelness of Yahweh, as he commands the Israelites to go from city to city, exterminating whole races of people along the way (Deuteronomy 20:16), until the land of Canaan is claimed as their own? Here we read of the most vicious, hateful, and bloodthirsty acts of aggression in the entire Bible targeted towards men, women, and children (Joshua chapters 6, 8, 10, 11).
While historians are skeptical about the exact nature of the Canaanite conquest and liberal Christians seek to spiritualize these passages, one problem won't go away: how can you reconcile—-even as fiction—-such savage acts of destruction with the familiar ethic, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44)? Either the God of Christian theology is schizophrenic or there is a serious moral flaw in his character. Remember, we're judging by his OWN standards, here! (By the way, Jim Benton has written an insightful series of articles here, here, here, here, and here analyzing the questionable moral underpinnings of Scripture.) It is entertaining to watch the most conservative of Christians become moral relativists in the processes of trying to defend Jehovah's genocidal tendencies (not to mention his endorsement of human slavery). Exit reason, enter cognitive dissonance.
I haven't even begun to comment on the other categories of Biblical errancy, such as false prophecy, impossible promises, conflicting spiritual ideas, and problems in the transmission and translation of key texts.
For the fair-minded Christians among us, I ask: how long of a leash are you willing to give the Bible for its misstatements, contradictions, and inconsistencies? How many errors do you need to be confronted with before you realize that the "Good Book" is human, rather than divine, in origin? Indeed, the Bible can be explained more satisfactorily through natural, rather than supernatural, means.


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If you have followed this narrative (even if you don't believe it) then we have an entire dimension for physical beings, NOT for spiritual beings and man being the ONLY hybrid creature. (100% Physical AND 100% SPIRITUAL)
QuoteGod lives in another dimension, we live in the physical dimension, for God to operate in the Physical dimension he needs us. God operates in this physical dimension by COOPERATING with a person in the physical realm that KNOWS HOW to use HIS POWER to get things done. No. No. No. It is only a recent thought that "God lives in another dimension" - we never found Jesus saying this. We never found the Church saying this. We only found apologists saying this when other dimensions were postulated. We therefore see that it is a simple deception pulled out of thin air to prevent people losing their faithThe trouble is, if you use the word "dimension" in the sense you intend, then a being in another dimension (and there would have to be more than one "dimension" in his world,) could not influence anything in our dimensions, because if he could, we could detect and identify him... and we can't.Let me put it this way. I tell you to "go and get one of the boxes. The one that is 4 foot by 3 foot." You go to the warehouse but there are many 4 foot by 3 foot boxes. some are 2 foot deep, some are 3 foot deep, etc. You cannot obey my order. You see one dimension does not affect other dimensions.
God lives in another dimension, we live in the physical dimension, for God to operate in the Physical dimension he needs us. God operates in this physical dimension by COOPERATING with a person in the physical realm that KNOWS HOW to use HIS POWER to get things done.
1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) v. xiv. 107 Ther is no body parfit withouten thre dymensions, that is breede, lengthe, and depnesse.
1858 W. Whewell Hist. Sci. Ideas ii. viii. §4–5 Time is conceived as a quantity of one dimension..Indeed the analogy between time, and space of one dimension, is so close, that the same terms are applied to both ideas.
1878 B. Stewart & P. G. Tait Unseen Universe vii. §220. 221 Suppose our (essentially three-dimensional) matter to be the mere skin or boundary of an Unseen whose matter has four dimensions.
suggested a six-dimensional Universe with the usual three spatial dimensions and three time-like dimensions that he called time, eternity and hyparxis. Time is the sequential chronological time that we are familiar with. The hypertime dimensions called eternity and hyparxis are said to have distinctive properties of their own. Eternity could be considered cosmological time or timeless time. Hyparxis is supposed to be characterised as an ableness-to-be and may be more noticeable in the realm of quantum processes. [Edit GB: or not.]While Bennett has put forward some curious speculation, his ideas stop at some subjective aspects of the perception of time which does not place them on a fully scientific basis. The question of measurement, how one would measure these hypothetical extra time-like dimensions, is left unaddressed.
I see I'm going to have to be here for a while.
Discussion threads are for discussion of the topic at hand, not simply advertising one's opinions. As such, forum members are expected to back up assertions they make, and not engage in stonewalling, shifting goalposts, changing the subject, or employing similar tactics to avoid addressing points raised against their arguments.
In your latest post you again ignore all our requests for evidence to support your claims and go on blithely making your baseless assertions.
... and felt that it would be better to die on a cross than to be without you
Seriously, you guys are the meanest people I have ever met. I hope you are happy and feel really good about yourself.
This guy over here is misquoting scripture he has no clue how to interpret. Another guy is upset I touched on the sacred cow of evolution. General Ad hominem attacks. I was expecting a bit more from this forum, but oh well....[snip]...
Wow, the straw man argument exists in force on this site, typical, because the site is based on a single premise straw man argument, you simply twist a person's position and run with it, but that's cool.
Wow, o.k. The replies are all over the place and on different topics, but let me attempt to stay on point. I see I'm going to have to be here for a while. or the sake of time, just Google "Straw Man Argument" so we can get on the same page.
This guy over here is misquoting scripture he has no clue how to interpret. Another guy is upset I touched on the sacred cow of evolution. General Ad hominem attacks. I was expecting a bit more from this forum, but oh well.I have to bring my point to even a lower level, just to get you to understand why the question of God not healing the Iraqi war veteran amputee is such a silly question.
OP : Yes yes, we all know about the placebo effect. Congrats on finding that... The real question is, what if the placebo effect is in fact faith(at work)? What if Yehovah had purposefully provided the ability for a person's brain to be able to cure a physical problem by simply thinking he/she was healed? Food for thought...On the amputee thing, I thought I would adress that right away. Let's put the title of this forum to rest shall we?... Here's the thing. If God healed amputees, then no faith would be required. He only cures internal diseases because nobody can completely & absolutely verify that it was The LORD healing that. This is also why it is written :Hebrews 11:1 Trusting is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see. 2 It was for this that Scripture attested the merit of the people of old. 3 By trusting, we understand that the universe was created through a spoken word of God, so that what is seen did not come into being out of existing phenomena. 4 By trusting, Hevel offered a greater sacrifice than Kayin; because of this, he was attested as righteous, with God giving him this testimony on the ground of his gifts. Through having trusted, he still continues to speak, even though he is dead. 5 By trusting, Hanokh was taken away from this life without seeing death — "He was not to be found, because God took him away" — for he has been attested as having been, prior to being taken away, well pleasing to God. 6 And without trusting, it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, because whoever approaches him must trust that he does exist and that he becomes a Rewarder to those who seek him out. 7 By trusting, Noach, after receiving divine warning about things as yet unseen, was filled with holy fear and built an ark to save his household. Through this trusting, he put the world under condemnation and received the righteousness that comes from trusting. 8 By trusting, Avraham obeyed, after being called to go out to a place which God would give him as a possession; indeed, he went out without knowing where he was going. 9 By trusting, he lived as a temporary resident in the Land of the promise, as if it were not his, staying in tents with Yitz'chak and Ya'akov, who were to receive what was promised along with him. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with permanent foundations, of which the architect and builder is God. 11 By trusting, he received potency to father a child, even when he was past the age for it, as was Sarah herself; because he regarded the One who had made the promise as trustworthy. 12 Therefore this one man, who was virtually dead, fathered descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as countless as the grains of the sand on the seashore.& also :17 By trusting, Avraham, when he was put to the test, offered up Yitz'chak as a sacrifice. Yes, he offered up his only son, he who had received the promises, 18 to whom it had been said, "What is called your 'seed' will be in Yitz'chak." 19 For he had concluded that God could even raise people from the dead! And, figuratively speaking, he did so receive him. 20 By trusting, Yitz'chak in his blessings over Ya'akov and Esav made reference to events yet to come. 21 By trusting, Ya'akov, when he was dying, blessed each of Yosef's sons, leaning on his walking-stick as he bowed in prayer. 22 By trusting, Yosef, near the end of his life, remembered about the Exodus of the people of Isra'el and gave instructions about what to do with his bones. 23 By trusting, the parents of Moshe hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they weren't afraid of the king's decree. 24 By trusting, Moshe, after he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25 He chose being mistreated along with God's people rather than enjoying the passing pleasures of sin. 26 He had come to regard abuse suffered on behalf of the Messiah as greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he kept his eyes fixed on the reward. 27 By trusting, he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered as one who sees the unseen. 28 By trusting, he obeyed the requirements for the Pesach, including the smearing of the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Isra'el. 29 By trusting, they walked through the Red Sea as through dry land; when the Egyptians tried to do it, the sea swallowed them up. 30 By trusting, the walls of Yericho fell down — after the people had marched around them for seven days. 31 By trusting, Rachav the prostitute welcomed the spies and therefore did not die along with those who were disobedient.Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Not blind faith, but intelligent faith, rational faith, "partially blind" faith you might say...I will introduce myself as soon as the mods let me create my own thread. I think every new person has to post at least 3 satisfactory posts beforehand...Blessings
The real question is, what if the placebo effect is in fact faith(at work)? What if Yehovah had purposefully provided the ability for a person's brain to be able to cure a physical problem by simply thinking he/she was healed? Food for thought...
Let's put the title of this forum to rest shall we?... Here's the thing. If God healed amputees, then no faith would be required.
He only cures internal diseases because nobody can completely & absolutely verify that it was The LORD healing that.
This is also why it is written :
Being a Christian, I've made my decision. That decision offers no compromise; therefore, I'm closed to anything else.
Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Not blind faith, but intelligent faith, rational faith, "partially blind" faith you might
Healing is built into out bodies by God so, how it is activated isn't really the issue.The question, I think is funny is this, why ask God to heal when Jesus told believers to heal? Mat_10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. As a matter of fact, for those of you like research, you can't find a SINGLE instance in the New Testament (I know you don't read it, but you can Google it) where ANY New Testament believers are directed to ASK GOD to heal anyone. gasp. shock. The central question of this website comes from a fallacy, that most Christians, unfortunately, believe and agnostics / atheists seize upon, God does NOT initiate healing, WE DO. I could get into the silliness of Calvinism, but much of what I read here is your opposition to Calvinism, not any actual true Christian doctrine. Jesus was the SON OF MAN, so he was a man (If you care to acknowledge his existence). But as a man, he NEVER prayed and ask GOD to heal anyone HE (Jesus) healed them as a man knowing how to use the power he was given. And, to lay this to rest, he did heal the maimed (missing body parts, amputees, or whatever you want to call them) Mat_15:30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them:I can expound much further on this, if you like, but the concept of asking God to heal isn't scriptural, nor is it Christian, WE are to heal. If you are following my logic, I would be glad to explain healing, faith healing, etc, but I find this supposedly impossible question a lesson in ignorance. Why? It isn't scriptural nor Christian, to pray and ASK God to heal, you can't find any examples of it in the New Testament. Healing lies on shoulders of the believer, not God. Case in point, when Jesus walked this earth, on over dozen occasions HE HEALED THEM ALL, not God. I am not arguing against his deity, but for a very specific reason, Jesus (God) came as a MAN using the power of God inherent in menSo, to sum up my points.Atheist: Well, let's pray and ask God to heal this amputeeChristian: Why don't we heal him, that's what Jesus told us to do, not just pray for him.Atheist: You don't want to pray for God to heal this amputee?Christian: No, there is need to pray for God to heal, let's use the power God put in us to heal this amputee Atheist: blah, blah, blahChristian: Yada,Yada, Yada, YadaI don't know, I thought the above discourse sounded funny in my head, but you get the point. Once again, the mechanics of HOW to get him (the amputee) healed via the supernatural power of God that rests in us is up for debate, but you truly misunderstand why GOD became a man in the first place. You simply don't understand Christianity at the core. If God had permission to do everything he wanted to do in the first place, why go through the trouble of becoming a man? You simply don't know God, nor do you know who is really in charge of this earth. Psa 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
This guy over here is misquoting scripture he has no clue how to interpret. Another guy is upset I touched on the sacred cow of evolution. General Ad hominem attacks. I was expecting a bit more from this forum, but oh well.I have to bring my point to even a lower level, just to get you to understand why the question of God not healing the Iraqi war veteran amputee is such a silly question. At a root level, IF, just IF, there was a being with enough power to create 300 sextillion stars WHY would that omnipotent (Almighty) being respect the wishes of his own creation? Why would he even ALLOW you to have a single thought contrary to his wishes? IF this being existed and he allowed you to have a single thought, a single glance of the eye contrary to his will then he by definition restrains HIMSELF when dealing with you. IF this being did exist he would have the INFINITE power to make sure you did everything EXACTLY as he wanted. Unless…. He doesn't want to control your actions. My supposition is that God is Almighty (Omnipotent, or whatever term floats your boat) but has decided to A) Share a portion of his power with us B) Respect our use of said power. So that then begs the question, why? Well apparently, he wanted someone like him. I'm not going to quote a lot of scripture because from reading the posts you generally lack the ability to correctly interpret scripture, so I'm going to stick with the realm of philosophy & nature, it will be easier for you to follow. The entire site is based on this general error, "If God were real, he would prove it by healing amputees, or moving pencils, something I (the atheist) can see and 'prove' Since I (the atheist) challenged him to do it, and he didn't, he doesn't exist." Here is the basis of your error (one of many) Just because a being is Omnipotent doesn't mean that that same being doesn't operate with respect. None of you respect my opinion, but I still have it, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it, I have the right, to be wrong, if I am wrong, right? Ask yourself WHY would an Almighty being ALLOW you the right to be wrong? What RULES has HE HIMSELF set forth that he uses? Is it even POSSIBLE for a person to be Unlimited in Power but restrained in the exercise of the same said Power? I already said before, Jesus healed amputees (the maimed, go read my first post) by definition, healing them all (the crowds) means, healing them ALL. This SAME Jesus went to his own home town and COULD NOT (not WOULD) do any great miracles because of THEIR UNBELIEF. (Mark 6:5 / Matthew 13:58 Google it) WHY? WHY? WHY? Does God have rules he lives by? Should an Almighty being live by his own rules? The POWER to heal is available to every believer. If the said believer doesn't believe in that power, or doesn't know how to use that power, why would you fault God? You mock the faith healers, and some are frauds, but some simply are being obedient and TRYING to do what Jesus did with some degree of success. Sometimes legitimate people fail, but that comes from ignorance NOT GOD. Once again, IF there is an Almighty being, you have to ask yourself WHY would he NEED to become a man. Why not just FORCE HIS WILL UPON EVERYONE? Your premise argument assumes God would over-run the will of a man to heal him and it also assumes if the believer (Christian) doesn't know how to use the Gift of healing, God should snatch it from his hands and do it for him. I just don't see a God who devalues mankind, I see a God who values your opinion (even if it is wrong) values you and felt that it would be better to die on a cross than to be without you
Without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Not blind faith, but intelligent faith, rational faith, "partially blind" faith you might say...
SHIN KAIRI said:QuoteWithout faith, it is impossible to please Him. Not blind faith, but intelligent faith, rational faith, "partially blind" faith you might say...But if you convince us of the existence of the god with what you obviously consider evidence and logical argument, then we will believe through evidence and logical argument, and not faith. If we have evidence, we do not need faith to believe. And once we actually have belief through evidence, we cannot then ever resort to faith in order to believe. You would have forever tainted our belief with evidence and logic. You would condemn us to being the kind of believers you insist the god does not want.
^ Therefore, there must be a plan. A perfect plan. The plan of the ages. To all the questions one can't answer, the answer is : "Yehovah has a plan". He doesn't lose. So whatever the end result, it's gonna be a good one, or the best possible one.
Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
For truly, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.
So.... soon.... we will have zombies roaming the earth who have been dead for between thousands and dozens of years
performing miracles that should be done "with the faith of a mustard seed"? Tossing mountains around and what not?
Honestly Shin.... how do you get this shit?

subset: commoncrawl


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By Sam Thomas
Big 12 Campus Correspondent
Jonathan Gray has figured out what it takes to be the big man on campus.
He has earned the title at Chandler High School, Eastern Oklahoma State College and now the University of Oklahoma.
Gray's journey started in Chandler, Okla., a town of 3,000 located an hour from Oklahoma City.
Gray was an all-state pitcher for the baseball team, and also starred on the football and basketball teams. With his brother Jack, the Grays formed a formidable pitching duo for the Lions.
"Chandler is known for baseball, and we had a pretty good squad," Jack said. "We all knew that Jonathan was the big dog. Our team knew he was the guy that we wanted to pitch against the good teams."
Even though Jonathan earned many honors on the diamond, he didn't get much notice outside Chandler until his senior year.
"If you played sports in that town, your name was pretty well known," Gray explained. "But from a small town like Chandler, I didn't really get much projection. Not many schools were talking to me until my senior year."
Gray's prospects improved when he was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 13th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft.
While many believed Gray had the physical tools to start a career in baseball, he knew he still had to mature mentally before he could take that step. He decided to put professional baseball on hold and play for Eastern Oklahoma State College for a year under coach Aric Thomas.
"When John got to junior college, he wasn't real sure of himself," Thomas said. "Everyone knew his name, but I don't think he knew that and he didn't know that guys were intimidated of him before he even toed the rubber."
Gray's year in junior college was vital to his maturity and his progression as a pitcher.
"I made a lot of improvements when I was there," Gray said of Eastern Oklahoma State. "My velocity got better and I developed a second pitch, but there was still a lot of work that needed to be done and I didn't think I was ready for (Major League Baseball) yet."
Gray needed to realize that, just like in high school, he had the stuff to be the best player on the field.
"He is the guy that always worked hard but got frustrated early on," Thomas said. "Once he turned the corner mentally and realized how good he is going to be and really worked, that's what really helped him."
Gray took his draft pedigree and the improvements he made in junior college and translated them to an offer to pitch at the University of Oklahoma.
"I grew up a die-hard OU fan," Gray said. "I grew up wanting to play at this school, no matter what sport it was I wanted to play here."
Once Gray arrived in Norman, he still faced many of the same problems with his mentality on the mound.
"When he came to OU, it was a little bit of the same thing," Thomas said. "He felt like just another guy. Once he realized what he was, he has started taking it to the next level."
Jack Gray has seen his brother's maturity grow with each step of the process.
"His maturity has increased, even through this year," Jack said. "You could see his physical maturity grow. In junior college you could tell he had not fully grown yet. If you look back in pictures, he had a baby face and now you can see that he has grown in his face and in the way that he carries himself."
With all the physical tools and the right mindset in place, many believe that Gray will be drafted again by a Major League club. Only this time it could be as high as the first pick in the draft.
"Who knows when he is going to peak?" Thomas said. "He has made great progression because of his work ethic and mindset. That's what has gotten him to where he is at."
Still, Gray tries to keep a level head about the process.
"That's not for me to worry about," Gray said about his draft projections. "I just have to keep doing what I am doing and don't think about it too much. The draft will come later down the road and take care of itself."


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Our wilderness is under an unprecedented attack from Trump and anti-conservationists in Congress. Help us fight back.
Few places in the U.S. are more prized by the avid recreationist than the Pacific Northwest.
Grand Canyon National Park is undoubtedly one of America's most beloved national parks, attracting about five million visitors every year who come to hike, camp and raft the river at its depths.
Those of us who are committed to America's lands are becoming increasingly concerned about what has been referred to as the "constituency crisis." While millions still love enjoying our wild places, there has been a decline in interest in the past few
With the 50th anniversary of The Wilderness Act looming, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell was asked to do the unthinkable.
From weird invasions of moose parasites to strange vandalism cases on our public lands, there was no shortage of drama in places that are otherwise known for their peace and tranquility. In case you missed them, we thought we'd share a few.
We know that Arches National Park and the red rock canyons, buttes and mesas that make up Utah's San Rafael Swell are Too Wild To Drill—but not that long ago nearby wildlands
Six U.S. senators have asked Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell to delay decisions about new leasing and exploration for offshore oil and gas until the government completes a thorough re-evaluation of the environmental and safety risks, and issues enhanced, Arctic-specific regulations.
The Forest Jobs and Recreation Act passed out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Dec. 19, advancing a years-long campaign to protect almost a million acres of incredible backcountry throughout western Montana, including over 600,000 acres of new Wilderness Area.
This past year many promising achievements were made to conserve our spectacular wild lands.
Wilderness Areas in the United States- (Drag and Zoom for specific regions)
Show the Trump administration Americans don't support plans to destroy this epic wildland.


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Mark Hayward's City Matters: It's a show, it's a sport, and it's toughBY MARK HAYWARD
New Hampshire Union Leader
May 07. 2014 10:52PM
I generally dislike dichotomies. A mainstay of AM talk radio, they are cheap rhetorical devices that boil complexities down to false choices.
For example: either you oppose Obamacare or you are a socialist who wants your doctor on the government payroll delivering Third World health care to your family.
Little room for argument there.
So it's odd that I was at the New Hampshire Roller Derby doubleheader last Saturday asking: sport or entertainment?
"Probably sport," said Manchester resident Emily Sheldon, who sat in the stands as 10 women competed in what could best be called football in the round.
A slow-rolling mob pushed and jostled — in unison, it resembled a gigantic, throbbing amoeba moving through some sort of goo — until a scorer broke loose and skated around and back into the gooey mess.
As for the rules, everyone I spoke to (except the players) said they were trying to figure it all out.
"These girls, they work really hard," Sheldon said. What does she like about it? "It's all girls, showing they're tough too."
This season, the seventh for New Hampshire Roller Derby, started this month and lasts through October.
The home games are played at JFK Memorial Coliseum. Last Saturday night's game drew a paying crowd of about 200, a crowd the organizers said was small because of the carnival going on in the parking lot.
Most of the crowd sat in the bleachers, while boyfriends and family members ventured into the "crash zone," the area on the floor where one can bring a folding chair and watch eye-level at their own risk.
The fluorescent lights are turned up on high, so it's easy to see the action and even read the names of the skaters on the uniforms: Nuclear Beatdown, Emily Decker'son, N Raging Grace.
The air is filled with the low-volume chatter of the game callers and the clacking of multiple skate wheels on the track.
Definitely a sport, said Manchester resident Jason Kimball. "It reminds me of Nascar," he said.
Talk to players or hard-core fans, and they'll apologize for the roller derby of the 1970s.
The decade did to roller derby what disco did to rhythm and blues, it seems.
Back then, it was all show and fake, the players will say.
Today, no one gets a fake elbow or takes part in a folding-chair smackdown, they say.
No one flies off the track. In fact, there is no railing or banked track; the track is a flat, hard-plastic mat with a painted oval to designate the field of play.
"There is no show, when we hit, it's a real hit," said Bekah Kistler, a mom of three who lives in Chester and plays for the Granite Skate Troopers.
Yet, the doubts live on.
Sport, insists Jenna Sheehan, a 26-year-old from North Reading, Mass. She manned a booth that explains the game and said everyone asks her if roller derby is a sport.
"I love everything about it," said Sheehan, who has been practicing with the New Hampshire league and hopes to land a spot on the travel team next month. "It's so much fun. You get to skate around and hit people. What's better than that?"
I say entertainment. Consider the stage names. How many hockey or basketball players use double-entendre aliases on the court? And there's the marketing.
The league logo shows the silhouette of a shapely, skirted, long-haired woman; arms akimbo; head cocked and hips jutted forward in a sexy amazonian pose.
In reality, the players come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They were friendly, but none gave come-hither stares or spat out venom like the WWE.
All wore uniforms and tights, and only one — Kistler — was skirted. None of the uniforms were particularly revealing, although a player who had the night off and worked the door — Chicana Bruzya — apparently knows that pushups are more than calisthenics.
So, sport or entertainment?
"It's a little of both," said Raymond resident Cail Desrochers, who came to the game at the behest of Kistler. "I thought it would be a little more violent. I just see everyone having a good time."
Kistler said things are changing. Some women don't use aliases. And many are drawn to roller derby for the workout aspects. In fact, about two dozen women take part in a rec team that limits its skating to the practice digs in Salem.
The women come from all walks of life. Kistler is the director of a child care center.
Sheehan is a construction site project manager and is applying for a college Ph.D. program. Teresa Giblin graduated from MIT and works for an information technology company.
Others are teachers, nurses. Erin Place is the editor of four weekly newspapers in the Nashua area.
She skated in both matches on Saturday, and was ready for the apres-game celebration.
"You can beat each other on the track," Place said, "then have a beer with them."
Mark Hayward's City Matters runs Thursdays in the New Hampshire Union Leader and on UnionLeader.com. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com


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Former Sen. Foster to be nominated for attorney general
April 01. 2013 1:03PM
CONCORD — Gov. Maggie Hassan's choice for attorney general runs a Manchester law firm that lobbies for numerous high-profile companies in New Hampshire, including the Ohio-based company Exel, which just landed a contract to operate a liquor warehouse in the state, and an insurance trust associated with the troubled New Hampshire Municipal Association.
On Wednesday, Hassan plans to nominate former Democratic state Sen. Joseph Foster to be the state's next attorney general. Foster is a managing partner of the Manchester-based McLane, Graf law firm, one of the largest in the state. He also chairs the firm's bankruptcy practice.
In the recent past, governors have selected most attorneys general from the criminal-prosecution fields. But Foster's selection means state government's top lawyer could be a person whose clients are heavily involved in state government.
"All firms as large as McLane represent a wide range of clients with a variety of priorities," said Hassan spokesman Marc Goldberg. "Any attorney general with private sector experience would need to recuse him or herself where appropriate, and, if confirmed, Joe Foster will undoubtedly fulfill his duties with complete impartiality."
A check with the McLane website lists a sampling of clients that the firm lobbies on behalf of. They include the New Hampshire Municipal Association Health Trust, which is caught up in questions of how the Local Government Center handled self-funded insurance for cities and towns.
Other clients include AES Granite Ridge, the natural gas-powered electricity plant in Londonderry; manufacturers such as Anheuser Busch, Monadncock Paper Mills and Hitchiner Manufacturing; the RiverStone Group insurance company; the Wheelabrator trash-burning power plant company; and trade associations representing public water suppliers, buyer brokers, psychologists, geologists, natural resource scientists and interior designers.
In December, McLane announced it had started its own lobbying branch, McLane Public Strategies Group, and was hiring a bipartisan staff, including Joel Maiola, staffer for former Sen. Judd Gregg, and Rich Sigel, former chief of staff for John Lynch.
Maiola is listed as a lobbyist for Exel, the Ohio company that has been awarded a contract to operate a Liquor Commission warehouse in the state. A recent review of the contract by the Attorney General's Office found the contract procedure complied with state law
Maiola is also listed as a lobbyist for Cate Street Capital, SMG and Well Sense Health Plan.
In a statement released today, Hassan said she plans to present Foster's name to the Executive Council on Wednesday. It will be up to the five-member Council to approve or reject the nomination.
"The role of attorney general in protecting and ensuring justice for the people of New Hampshire is one of the highest responsibilities in our state," Hassan said in prepared remarks. "I am confident that Joe's judgment and experience make him the ideal candidate to serve as New Hampshire's chief legal and law enforcement officer."
Foster called the nomination an honor. He was a member of the New Hampshire House from 1995 to 1998. Foster's nomination is subject to confirmation by the Executive Council.
Republican Senate President Peter Bragdon congratulated his former colleague for getting the nod.
"I served with Sen. Foster in the Senate for four years and remember him as a dedicated and respected legislator," Bragdon said in a statement. "If confirmed, he will no doubt bring those same talents with him to the Justice Department, along with a solid legal background. I look forward to a strong working relationship with him."
He was a state senator from 2002 to 2008 and was majority leader in 2007. As state senator, he chaired the Judiciary Committee, both under Democratic and Republican majorities. Hassan's office said he led efforts to enact the Sexual Predators Act, one of the toughest laws in the nation protecting New Hampshire's children from child predators.
Gov. Hassan will formally nominate Foster to the Council at Wednesday's meeting.


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Learn how to protect yourself from Internet scams. Read our online fraud prevention tips
Sheriff Sales CLSLegal Notice Notices and Announcements Classified Ad
Sheriff Sales CLS
Shaun Golden MONMOUTH COUNTY SHERIFF NOTICE OF FORECLOSURE SALE SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY MONMOUTH COUNTY CHANCERY DIVISION Docket No. F02400217 Sheriff's File #18002933 Bank of America, N.A., Plaintiff vs: Lynn Staufenberg Malick, et al., Defendants By virtue of a writ of execution in the above stated action to me directed, I shall expose for sale at public venue, at Monmouth County Sheriff's Office Public Safety Center, 2500 Kozloski Road, in the Township of Freehold, County of Monmouth, New Jersey, on Monday, the 29th day of October, 2018 at 2 o'clock, P.M. prevailing time. The property to be sold is located in The Township of Middletown in the County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey. Lot Block Number if available: BLOCK: 622 LOT: 7 Tax Map of the Township of Middletown Commonly known as: 40 New Monmouth Road Middletown, NJ 07748 DIMENSIONS OF LOT: 280.00' X 150.00' NEAREST CROSS STREET: Kings Highway SUPERIOR INTERESTS (if any): All unpaid municipal taxes, assessments and liens; Any set of facts which an accurate survey would disclose; Any restrictions or covenants on record which run with the land; Rights of the United States of America, if any; Any Condominium lien priority, if any; Any outstanding PUD or Homeowner's Associations dues or fees, if any; Any occupants or persons in possession of the property, if any; Additional municipal charges, liens, taxes or tax sale certificates and insurance, if any. Township of Middletown Sewage Auth. - Acct #20828 holds a claim for taxes due and/or other municipal utilites such as water and/or sewer in the amount of $150.00 plus penalty as of 08/30/2018 Surplus Money: If after the sale and satisfaction of the mortgage debt, including costs and expenses, there remains any surplus money, the money will be deposited into the Superior Court Trust Fund and any person claiming the surplus, or any part thereof, may file a motion pursuant to Court Rules 4:64-3 and 4:57-2 stating the nature and extent of that person's claim and asking for an order directing payment of the surplus money. The Sheriff or other person conducting the sale will have information regarding the surplus, if any. A full legal description of the premises can be found in the Office of The Sheriff of Monmouth County. TERMS OF SALE: DEPOSIT: 20% of the bid amount at the time of sale. Balance due in 30 days. Cash (with a limit of $1,000) or certified check only. The approximate amount of the judgment, Commission and costs to be satisfied by sale is the sum of $430,885.42. The successful bidder will be responsible for all fees, commissions and costs of sale. The Sheriff hereby reserves the right to adjourn this sale without further notice by publication. Shaun Golden, Sheriff Dated: 10/3/2018, 10/10/2018, 10/17/2018, 10/24/2018, Attorney, for the firm Powers Kirn, LLC 856-802-1000 Attorney Ref.: $595.20
Related Categories: Notices and Announcements - Legal Notice
Published in The Star Ledger, Published Online 10/3. Updated 10/17.
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John DiStaso's Granite Status: Forbes to return to NH on March 15
February 17. 2013 11:48PM
MONDAY, FEB. 18, UPDATE: FORBES TO RETURN TO NH. Businessman, publisher, Fox News Channel host and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes has agreed to keynote the joint Lincoln Day Dinner of the Concord City Republican Committee and the Merrimack County Republican Committee on Friday, March 15 in Concord.
Concord GOP Chair Kerry Marsh said more details are in the works as are more items for his scheduled trip to the Granite State.
(Earlier Granite Status reports follow.)
THURSDAY, FEB. 14, UPDATE: MAGGIE'S MOVE: BRILLIANT OR "LUDICROUS?" Gov. Maggie Hassan certainly went "all in" on casino gambling Thursday. She did so to an even stronger degree than had been expected.
In her budget address, she didn't merely call for a casino along the state's southern border as she did during the 2012 campaign.
She went much further. She put her money where her rhetoric was by including $80 million in her proposed budget from anticipated licensing fees from a single casino. She then doubled down on the bet by insisting the funds were necessary "to fund our most pressing priorities, especially higher education and mental health."
Her emphasis on the importance of the gambling revenue to some of the state's most basic needs stands as a straightforward challenge to lawmakers:
The choices:
1) Approve casino gambling, or
2) Come up with $80 million in revenue elsewhere, or
3) Cut $80 million worth of programs, or
4) Some combination of 2 and 3.
The state Senate is expected to choose Door Number One by approving a casino gambling bill sponsored by Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester, and cosponsored by a bipartisan group of eight other senators.
The House is a much different story. For more than a decade it has repeatedly rejected "stand alone" gambling bills.
But this time, Hassan certainly upped the ante by directly linking gambling to $80 million in her budget.
Is that move politically astute or a bit too presumptuous?
Gambling supporters wanted the money put into the budget to, in effect, put pressure on the House.
If it doesn't want gambling, what will it cut or what taxes will it raise or create?
Supporters are also ecstatic over the recent UNH poll conducted for WMUR showing 62 percent of Granite Staters favor a casino in the state.
Gambling interests have long had supporters in the Senate. Now, they have a willing partner in the governor.
But at the State House, it takes three to tango, and what about the House?
House Majority Leader Steve Shurtleff, D-Penacook said he has been a gambling opponent in the past.
He would not specifically say how he feels about it this time.
Shurtleff said he will value the judgment of the House Finance Committee, which will have a huge influence on the process and will give a hint of where the House Democratic leadership stands fairly early on.
House Finance will be the first legislative stop for the budget, even as the Senate will be the first to consider, and probably pass, the separate D'Allesandro gambling bill.
House speaker Terie Norelli, D-Portsmouth, in keeping with her close-to-the-vest approach on most controverisal matters, did not even mention gambling in her official reaction to the governor's budget.
Hassan spokesman Marc Goldberg posted on Twitter that "every New Hampshire budget relies on accompanying bills being passed."
But Deputy House Minority Leader David Hess, R-Hooksett, a staunch gambling opponent, said the governor's approach is "ludicrous."
Hess said, "Until now, we've never had a governor who has cited in a budget address a revenue source that did not already exist, much less one that's illegal.
"Why not propose raising $30 million by licensing bordellos or by licensing moonshine distilleries?" Hess asked, with tongue only partially implanted in cheek.
(Earlier Granite Status reports follow.)
MID-DAY THURSDAY, FEB. 14, UPDATE: MAGGIE'S ALL IN. As the Granite Status and UnionLeader.com first reported Wednesday, Gov. Maggie Hassan proposed casino gambling at a single facility during her budget address on Thursday morning.
As we reported, she included $80 million in revenue anticipated from the licensing of one "high-end, highly regulated casino."
Hassan said, "With Massachusetts already moving forward, we can no longer pretend that expanding gambling isn't coming to our communities. It is."
She said the revenue from licensing a casino would fund "our most pressing priorities, especially higher education and mental health."
For her plan to work, the Legislature must pass a separate bill authorizing gambling. More below about that bill, which is expected to pass the state Senate but faces an uncertain fate in the House.
See State House reporter Garry Rayno's full report elsewhere on UnionLeader.com. Our earlier exclusive report and the full Feb. 14 Granite Status follow.
EARLY THURSDAY, FEB. 14: MAGGIE AND GAMBLING. When Gov. Maggie Hassan takes to the House chamber podium this morning to deliver her first budget address, she is expected to express strong support for expanded gambling and include about $80 million in gambling licensing revenue in her spending plan for fiscal 2014 and 2015.
The revenue is dependent on separate passage of a gambling bill that would send the licensing money to higher education and North Country economic development. Full gambling proceeds would not be available until a casino is up and running much later.
The main gambling bill, Senate Bill 152, is scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Ways and Means Committee Tuesday.
Whether Hassan makes a pointed call for gambling or whether she issues a strong expression of support is unclear, but no matter.
Either way, her overall message will be clear.
And it won't be a huge surprise since she has repeatedly said she could support a single casino in the southern part of the state ever since she campaigned for governor.
But in making it official, the freshman chief executive will formally part ways with her predecessor, fellow Democrat John Lynch, who had opposed expanded gambling throughout his four terms.
A poll this week by UNH for WMUR indicated that 66 percent of Granite Staters support legalizing gambling if it means income and sales taxes are off the table, while 29 percent would still oppose it.
And without the proviso on broad-based taxes, 62 percent favored expanded gambling, while 32 percent opposed it.
The poll showed support has grown from 49 percent in November 2009.
Anxiously waiting in the wings are entities that would bid for the single license available under Senate Bill 152, including of course, the folks at Salem's Rockingham Park and partner Millennium Gaming. The bill also sets up a commission to consider future additional gambling sites.
Sen. Lou D'Allesandro, D-Manchester, the sponsor of SB 152, said Wednesday he did not know for certain if gambling revenue will be included in the governor's budget plan, but he said, "You can't build a budget for 2014 and 2015 without it."
D'Allesandro's bill targets licensing fee revenue for a casino for higher education and North Country economic development.
If a casino can actually get up and running before the end of the next budget cycle, on June 30, 2015, additional revenue it generates would, under the bill, be directed to infrastructure - specifically, roads and bridges.
Will it actually happen this year? The poll says yes, the governor says yes and the state Senate is expected to say yes.
What will the House say?
That's the $80 million (and possibly much more) question.
State Republican Party Chairman Jennifer Horn said that without a gambling bill passed, "to build a budget around these revenues would be extremely irresponsible." But she said Republicans are "ready to work with" the governor.
NOT SO FAST, SENATOR. D'Allesandro, the Manchester Democrat who is vice chairman of the influential Senate Ways and Means Committee, is skeptical of Republican Senate President Peter Bragdon's plan to eliminate ramp tolls on three entrances and exits on the F.E. Everett Turnpike in Merrimack.
D'Allesandro said he is "keeping an open mind" and has not yet decided whether to support Bragdon's Senate Bill 3.
He needs "more numbers" from the Department of Transportation on what the loss of revenue would mean to the overall turnpike system.
D'Allesandro said Bragdon "makes a lot of sense in that there are three tolls" in Merrimack, but, "Remember, it's a toll road, and in order for it to work and make improvements on the toll road, you got to have receipts."
While Bragdon pointed out D'Allesandro's home city commuters can exit and enter the turnpike free of charge at their interchanges, D'Allesandro says Manchester was "extremely limited" in the number of exits from and entrances to the turnpike for many years.
"The largest city in the state finally got some relief in recent years," D'Allesandro said. "For many years at the Granite Street Bridge, you could only get off and you had to go to the Amoskeag Bridge to get on."
"You have to look at economic feasibility and if it's feasible to eliminate one of those tolls, let's do it," he said.
"I'm very open to the discussion."
SOONER RATHER THAN LATER. Former House Speaker Bill O'Brien says he's actually enjoying being a "back bencher" in the House, where he can speak his mind even more openly than he did as speaker.
He's also doing nothing to squelch speculation that he's looking ahead to a U.S. House run against embattled Democratic Rep. Annie Kuster.
A possible O'Brien congressional run was the subject of a story last week in the National Journal's Hotline On Call.
Also considering running, as we reported a week ago, is fellow Republican former state Sen. Gary Lambert of Nashua.
O'Brien this week blasted teacher unions on his Facebook page, saying they are "the one fundamental reason" that "government schools are failing in New Hampshire and throughout the country."
He told us "a lot of folks have come up to me and seem to be fairly supportive" of a congressional run. "But we'll see.
"At this point I'm really trying to concentrate on my state representative responsibilities," he said.
He said his beloved right-to-work legislation, which failed again Wednesday in the House, will pass "some day."
He said he realizes Kuster is a formidable fund-raiser and that if he is to mount a serious challenge, he must get going "sooner rather than later.
"I do know there does need to be more fiscally responsible votes in Washington," he said.
HER FIRST PLEA SINCE... Kuster emailed supporters asking for fund-raising help Wednesday, her first plea since she apologized for making six consecutive late property tax payments over the past three years on her home in Hopkinton and missing two payments on a home in Jackson.
She uses O'Brien as an impetus to raise money, writing that "not even a full month in, there is already talk of an extremist opponent, Bill O'Brien, jumping in to run against me."
She asks for funds or for supporters to join "Annie Angels," who, she wrote, give to her reelection campaign on a monthly basis.
The state GOP late Wednesday sent out its own fund-raising email focusing on Kuster's tax controversy.
"We need your help to make sure that Annie Kuster's hypocritical 'taxes for thee but not for me' policies are defeated," the party wrote.
FERGUS AT THE MONDAY MEETING. Former state GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen Wednesday confirmed he attended this week's New York City gathering of The Monday Meeting, a group of high-dollar conservative donors who meet monthly on an off-the-record basis.
Cullen recently announced the formation of the Americans By Choice, a bipartisan nonprofit advocacy group promoting immigration reform from what Cullen has called "a center-right" perspective.
After the Granite Status obtained an email to Monday Meeting participants saying Cullen was making his "Monday Meeting debut," he confirmed that he was among several speakers.
"Bigger names," he said, included Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-N.Y., conservative columnist John Fund and author Amity Shlaes.
Cullen said he was in the big city for "a series of fund-raising and other meetings as we build support for Americans By Choice."
He said, "I had to be sharp to win people over."
Cullen, an accomplished distance runner, said he "also got to go for a run in Central Park, which I'd never done before, so that was a bonus. At least as good as a Broadway show in my book!"
THE THURSDAY MEETING. It's been a week since the RightOn Strategies conservative consulting group hosted a private meeting of more than 130 state Republicans at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics.
The results of a New England College poll on the 2014 U.S. Senate race showed Sen. Jeanne Shaheen only slightly ahead of a generic Republican candidate, 49 to 43 percent, which Republicans say shows potential vulnerability, albeit very early.
Beyond that, we've learned the poll showed Hassan ahead of a generic Republican challenger by 8 percentage points, 49 to 41 percent.
And, regarding the state Legislature, those questioned preferred Republican control over Democratic control, 49 to 42 percent.
While critics will undoubtedly say the poll was completed for a Republican group, it's also true the NEC is not exactly a right-wing polling outfit.
They're the same pollsters who recently showed 72 percent of Granite Staters supported a ban on "assault weapons," a term that was not defined in the poll.
The new poll gauged support for "semi-automatic firearms" in "protecting your family," and 44 percent were in support while 47 percent were opposed.
The poll also found 60 percent viewed themselves as "pro-choice" and 32 percent, "pro-life."
But when asked their thoughts on whether an abortion should be performed at the point where an "unborn child" could "feel pain," 41 percent opposed abortion and 37 percent supported it.
HOLLY'S NEW POST. Holly Shulman, the former spokesman for the Obama campaign in New Hampshire and previously for the state Democratic Party, has landed a federal job.
After working for the Obama inaugural committee, Shulman is now an international affairs spokesman at the U.S. Treasury Department.
COME ON UP! State Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley issued a sarcastic invitation to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to include a stop in New Hampshire on his book tour. According to Buckley, Cuccinelli is releasing a new book "The Last Line of Defense" that has been described as a "tea party manifesto" and "is a clear first step in his run for the Republican nomination in 2016."
"We sincerely hope that Attorney General Cuccinelli honors New Hampshire with a reading of his new book ahead of the first-in-the-nation primary here in the Granite State," Buckley wrote.
"Ken Cuccinelli's opinion that Social Security and Medicare are 'goodies' that make recipients 'dependent on government' would certainly be enlightening to the many voters he will have to win over during his long quest for the presidency. We think this is such an important thing for New Hampshire voters that we will pay for the attorney aeneral's travel up here for the reading."
(John DiStaso is senior political reporter of the New Hampshire Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Twitter: @jdistaso.)


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Feds ask for 10 years in jail for Rwandan 'mass murderer' they allowed into the countryBy KATHRYN MARCHOCKI
New Hampshire Union Leader
June 30. 2013 11:40PM
Manchester mother Beatrice Munyenyezi is portrayed as a "mass murderer" who wielded a ruthless brand of justice when deciding who would live and who would die from her post at a hotel roadblock during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, federal prosecutor say.
"Munyenyezi played a direct and indirect role in the systematic murder of hundreds, if not thousands of people," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aloke Chakravarty and John Capin wrote in their sentencing memorandum.
They will ask the court to impose a 10-year prison term when Munyenyezi, 43, is sentenced in U.S. District Court in Concord Wednesday on two counts of lying to immigration officials to illegally gain entry to the United States and become a citizen in 2003.
Defense attorneys, however, depict Munyenyezi as a self-made success story — a single mother of three daughters who immersed herself in American culture since she arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 1998. She learned English, was gainfully employed, and contributed to the community.
Defense attorneys seek a sentence of less than 12 months so her crimes won't be considered aggravated felonies during immigration proceedings. This could make the difference between Munyenyezi being deported to her native Rwanda — where they fear she will face severe punishment, if not death — or being removed to other countries.
"It may affect which countries would agree to take her," defense attorney David W. Ruoff said Friday.
The government said Munyenyezi belonged to the ruling Hutu party and was a ring leader of its extremist youth militia.
As such, she oversaw killings and rapes of mostly ethnic Tutsi from a roadblock she worked outside the hotel her husband's family owned in the Butare province of Rwanda.
An estimated 800,000 mostly ethnic Tutsis were killed in the three-month period from April to early July 1994 that is known as the Rwandan genocide.
Munyenyezi already served 27 months of pre-trial confinement. A less than 12-month sentence would result in her immediate transfer to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for processing and removal proceedings, Ruoff said.
After hearing testimony for 11 days, a federal jury on Feb. 21 convicted Munyenyezi of two counts of making false statements to government officials to conceal her involvement in the Rwandan genocide and illegally gaining entry to the U.S. Her first trial on the charges ended in a mistrial last year.
"The government has steadfastly treated this case as a genocide case, tried this case as a genocide case, and now wants to sentence this case as if it is a genocide case. However, it is a false-statement case," defense attorneys Ruoff and Mark E. Howard argued in their sentencing memorandum.
The false statement Munyenyezi is convicted of involved no violence or other criminal activity, they said.
But prosecutors claim the facts about which Munyenyezi lied form the basis of the crimes for which she was convicted and cannot be separated from them.
U.S. District Court Judge Steven J. McAuliffe revoked Munyenyezi's U.S. citizenship upon her conviction.
Munyenyezi's husband, Shalom Ntahobali, and his mother, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, were tried before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and convicted in 2011 of genocide and human rights violations.
Her sister, Prudence Kantengwa, was convicted in May 2011 in U.S. District Court in Boston of perjury stemming from her immigration proceedings.
Munyenyezi moved to New Hampshire in 2002, where she worked as a court interpreter and for the Manchester Housing and Redevelopment Authority.
She was studying for her bachelor's degree in political science at the University of New Hampshire-Manchester when she was arrested at her Manchester home in 2010.


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February 14. 2013 11:20PM
Iran inches forward: As Obama keeps talking
Last fall, just before the election, the White House revealed that President Obama had reached an agreement in principle on one-on-one negotiations that would result in Iran giving up the nuclear weapons program it claims it does not have. It was consistent with the principle Obama spelled out in the 2008 election that the President should have an open dialogue with even regimes such as Iran's and North Korea's.
On Thursday it was reported that Iran has been trying to buy massive numbers of magnets used in enriching uranium for use in nuclear weapons. Doing so is a violation of United Nations sanctions. Iran sought the magnets anyway.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose nation Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has openly advocated destroying, said last year that Iran probably would have the capability to make a nuclear weapon by this spring or summer. The question was whether the economic sanctions would collapse the regime before then. That does not seem likely. So, now what?
President Obama has said that a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable. He has kept saying that as Iran's murderous dictator has inched ever closer to getting his blood-stained hands on a nuclear weapon. As Obama talks, Ahmadinejad acts. No one wants a new war. But the question must be asked: How much longer can this go on?


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Ph: 603-586-4445
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Red Demons claim fourth straight Western Athletic Conference boys basketball title with win over Indians
The Dodge City Red Demons have been in a sharing mood when it comes to their success on the court, but they weren't in a sharing mood when it came to winning the Western Athletic Conference title.
The Red Demons scored 17 of the first 20 points and never had their lead get below double digits to beat the Indians 53-36 to earn their fourth straight WAC boys basketball title and sixth since 2004.
For Rashaan Taylor, Zach Norton, Shaphan Gross, Jordan Doan and Matt Goedeken, the victory and title was something they had discussed throughout the season and the Red Demons used their patented patient offense and wiry defense in achieving their goal.
"We definitely wanted to go out like that and it feels great. It was a goal that we set during the offseason," Gross said. "This was my first year having a big role on the team, so it felt better than last year, although last year felt pretty good."
Gross scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Red Demons (12-7, 6-1), while Jace Larson added 12. Matt Goedeken scored seven points and had five rebounds in the victory, Doan scored five points and had four steals, Taylor scored four points and Norton had three rebounds in the victory.
Dodge City shot 21-of-37 against the Indians, including 10 of 16 after intermission. The Red Demons led 19-5 after the opening quarter and 29-18 at halftime. Hays shot just 6-of-28 in the second half as the Demons' clamped down on defense.
"It's a great feeling, especially winning it outright against Hays," Goedeken said. "We worked very hard and it pays off. Now we have to get ready for sub-state."
Doan is the only three-year varsity player on the squad, so the four-peat was special to him because of his ties to the earlier league titles.
"My first year, I was just kind of a role player," Doan said. "I kept working during the offseason and the on season to get better. Now I am a senior and we completed our four-peat, so that makes it special.
Lane Clark scored 10 points to lead Hays (11-8, 4-3). The Indians were the only team that had a chance of catching the Red Demons for the WAC title, but they would have had to had beaten the Red Demons and Great Bend to earn at least a share of the title.
DCHS head coach Dennis Hamilton was just as pleased about his team's accomplishment and know there is still a lot to play for in Friday night's game at Liberal. A win would catapult the Demons to the No. 2 spot with a possibility of playing Garden City at the DCHS Fieldhouse for a Class 6A state berth. Both teams would have the same record, but Dodge City owns the tiebreaker.
But that's Friday night and Hamilton just wants the Demons to relish in what their Tuesday night accomplishment.
"This is one that could allow us to host on our home court throughout the playoffs, so it's a big game," Hamilton said. "They'll be fine. I want them to enjoy this and we'll be ready for Liberal when Friday night comes around."
HAYS (36) – Kyler Niernberger 2, Nicholas Petz 8, Adam Deterding 2, Lane Clark 10, Kade Parker 3, Derek Bixerman 4, Brady Werth 7. Totals 13 5-8 36.
DODGE CITY (53) – Rashaan Taylor 4, Jackson Oldham 2, Shaphan Gross 17, Austin Weiser 6, Jordan Doan 5, Jace Larson 12, Matt Goedeken 7. Totalso 21 5-9 53.
Hays51399 – 36
Dodge City19 10177 – 53
Three-point baskets – Hays 5 (Petz 2, Clark 2, Parker 1), Dodge City 6 (Gross 3, Weiser 2, Doan 1). Records—Hays 11-8 (4-3), Dodge City 12-7 (6-1).


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When New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton decided to make the change at defensive coordinator within the first 72 hours of being reinstated by the NFL after his one-year exile, most of us thought the obvious choice for a defensive coordinator would be former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel.
When New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton decided to make the change at defensive coordinator within the first 72 hours of being reinstated by the NFL after his one-year exile, most of us thought the obvious choice for a defensive coordinator would be former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel.
The 65-year-old Crennel had a long history of being one of the league's top defensive minds and despite not having great success as a head coach, he was certainly considered a brilliant teacher of the 3-4 defense, one of the top defensive coordinators in the game, and he has close ties to Payton's closest friend in the NFL — Pro Football Hall of Fame head coach Bill Parcells.
But Crennel's contract with the Chiefs forces the team to pay him $3.2 million a season for the next two years if he doesn't coach a play.
With that in mind everyone was taken back for a moment when word spread that former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan had emerged as the clear front-runner for the job earlier last week and on Saturday Ryan landed the new defensive coordinator position with the Saints.
What struck everyone right off the bat was the fact that if you are looking for someone personality-wise and scheme-wise like former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, that is exactly what you are getting with Ryan.
Ryan is loud, bombastic and will tell you just how good he is and how good his team is. He will take chances, have no regrets about doing what he thinks he has to do to get the job done on the field and is not afraid to be criticized if it goes wrong.
That is exactly what the Saints got in 2009 with Gregg Williams and Ryan's ego and personality traits are in the same area code as Williams.
Make no mistake about it Ryan is a good coach and highly praised for his innovative schemes and his ability to mix and match coverage and blitz schemes, but it was maybe the perception that the two strong personalities would not mesh well together that has some Saints fans wondering if the same rift between Payton and Williams will happen again with Ryan somewhere in the future.
It is no secret that at the end of the 2011 season there was no love or trust between the two strong personalities that led the Saints to a Super Bowl title in 2009.
In Ryan, the Saints are getting a coach that wants to confuse and disrupt opposing offenses. He will use creative concepts, different opponent-specific schemes and elements learned from his dad, Buddy Ryan, and his former boss with the New England Patriots when he was the linebacker's coach, Bill Belichick.
Like his brother, Rex in New York, Rob will veer quickly from a 3-4 alignment at a moment's notice to stand-up personnel, drop the nose guard into coverage, to rush six men on one play and two the next.
What Ryan likes to do is best is to confuse the quarterback and make him process as much information on the fly as possible.
Ryan did top-quality work as defensive coordinator with the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns during his stints in both places, and if Saints fans remember correctly it was Ryan's defense that befuddled Drew Brees and the Saints offense in 2010 when a poor Browns team upset New Orleans 30-17 in the Superdome.
The last two seasons with the Cowboys have been a bit of a disappointment for Ryan. He has had moments in which his defense has looked very good and other moments when concept of blitz and coverage seemed not to mix well, and he was beset with injuries in 2012.
But the Cowboys did have one of the premier pass rushers in the game in DeMarcus Ware, who flourished in Ryan's scheme and Anthony Spencer, the other starting outside linebacker for the Cowboys, who played his best football under Ryan.
The Saints have no one close to the talents of Ware or Spencer at outside linebacker today.
They do have the making of a good front three with Brodrick Bunkley at nose guard and Cam Jordan and Akiem Hicks at the defensive end posts, but what they lack is that premier pass rusher that puts the fear of playing football in a quarterback week in and week out.
Right now it is fixing the personnel issues that have plagued this team defensively since 2006 and the Saints scouting department needs to hit on draft choices on defense like they have with the likes of Marques Colston, Jahri Evans, Carl Nicks, Jimmy Graham and Jermon Bushrod on the offensive side of the ball.
Years ago Rob's dad, Buddy, one of the top innovators on the defensive side of the ball over the past 30 years in the NFL said it best.
"I'm a damn good coach, and I know you and the people who play against us know it, but I am lot smarter coach when I've got real good talent than when I don't," Buddy Ryan said.
For Rob Ryan the personality fit was a little odd with the backdrop of the Bounty scandal and the heavy involvement of Williams fresh in the mind of Payton, but the bottom line is that this is a production business and the best production this team had is when they had an aggressive, take-no-prisoners mentality.
If that defense was going to make a mistake they were going to do it at 100 miles per hour.
That was the type defensive coach and philosophy they had under Williams and what they will have under Rob Ryan.
Now it is the job of the Saints front office and player personnel staff to go out and acquire Ryan the type of talent that can put the Saints back deep into the playoff picture and fast.
That's because Drew Brees is now 34 and the balance of power in the NFC has dramatically swung out West with San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, who have become the teams to beat to get to Super Bowl Sunday.
It's a reality in New Orleans — the future is now.
For the last few years, I have written that LSU has become "Defensive Lineman University."
Over the last nine years, LSU is the only college to put a defensive lineman in each of those nine draft classes and with the likes of Sam Montgomery, Barkevious Mingo, Bennie Logan, Lavar Edwards, Josh Downs, and even the fourth man on the defensive end chart Chancey Aghayere (all probable NFL draft selections this coming April) it will make it a 10th- straight season.
But with the loss of six NFL prospects, it opened the door for Les Miles and his recruiting team to feast on a host of top rated prep defensive linemen locally and more surprisingly from across America to fill in the gaps.
Not only did the Tigers land the state's top defensive end prospects in East Feliciana High School standout Kendell Beckwith and Winnfield High School's Michael Patterson, but they also were able to go across the United State to sign some of the best talent available in the prep pool along the defensive line.
The Tigers landed one of the best defensive ends in the northeast in Tashawn Bowers (6-foot-5, 245) from New Jersey, one of the top ranked overall players in the south in defensive end Frank Herron (6-5, 255) from Tennessee, Christian Lacouture the 6-5, 275 pound defensive tackle from Nebraska, who was highly coveted by his home-state school of Nebraska and Texas A&M, Maquedius Bainm, a 6-3, 306-pound defensive tackle from Florida who LSU pried away from the likes of Florida State and Miami (Fla.) and two of the top ranked defensive linemen in the state of North Carolina in defensive end Lewis Neal (6-1, 235) and nationally recruited defensive tackle Greg Gilmore (6-4, 280).
And if you throw into the mix the talents of inside linebacker Melvin Jones, a 6-3, 250-pound inside linebacker from Washington Marion High School in Lake Charles, who seems to be growing into more of a defensive end/tackle than a linebacker, the Tigers will be very young, but very talented up front in 2013 and 2014.
Now, let's see if they can fully develop the one area that has separated them from Alabama the past two seasons= — quarterback.
Certainly the key for success for LSU again will be the development of maybe the best defensive linemen class ever at LSU and that comes a year after landing the most lucrative and talented group of linebackers ever to hit the Baton Rouge campus at one time.
But the very key to getting back to the national championship game in this recruiting class will come with the development of quarterbacks Hayden Rettig and Anthony Jennings.
What has separated LSU from Alabama the past two seasons has been Alabama's ability to fully develop the quarterbacking skills of A.J. McCarron and LSU has struggle to do the same with the likes of Jordan Jefferson, Jarrett Lee and now Zach Mettenberger.
All McCarron has done is lead the Tide to back to back BCS National Championships and shepherded the way to the top of college football's Mount Everest like Tim Tebow did for Florida, Cam Newton did for Auburn and yes, Matt Flynn did for LSU.
Developing Rettig and Jennings will be crucial to the Tigers battle to overtake the Crimson Tide in the future and also combat the likes of Florida, Ole Miss and Texas A&M who are steadily closing in on LSU and Alabama, two frontrunners that have yearly battled it out to make it to the top of the heap in the SEC.
Cam Cameron, Tiger Nation will be closely watching what happens when your quarterback-coaching skills are brought to Baton Rouge.
NFL analyst Mike Detillier lives in Raceland.


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Havenstein: 25,000 new jobs by 2017MICHAEL COUSINEAU
New Hampshire Union Leader
August 04. 2014 8:30PM
MANCHESTER — Former BAE Systems CEO Walt Havenstein said he wants to create 25,000 new jobs by the summer of 2017 and issue "a rallying cry" for state government to focus on employment growth.
"My emphasis is going to be on what I consider to be good-paying, sustainable jobs," the Republican businessman said in an interview with the New Hampshire Union Leader on Monday. "It will be focused around high-tech and advanced manufacturing."
Havenstein's proposal, which will be unveiled in Manchester's Millyard today, would cut the business profits tax in his first two-year budget from 8.5 percent to 7.9 percent, putting it below Massachusetts. His second budget would lower it to 7.4 percent, below Connecticut's rate.
Havenstein said he looked at historical job growth figures to help set his goal for his first 2 1/2 years in office, if elected.
"I think it's what some may call ambitious, but I think it's a very achievable goal," he said. The state created 4,500 jobs over the past 12 months, according to his 11-page plan. (A spokesman said the state added 54,000 new jobs while Republican Steve Merrill was governor between 1993 and 1997.)
In an open letter to New Hampshire residents that will run as a full-page ad in Wednesday's Union Leader, Havenstein said ramping up job gains will require a change in culture.
"By setting a goal of 25,000 new jobs by 8.15.17, I intend to provide a rallying cry for everyone in state government to focus on growing the economy, using job creation as a yardstick."
The $49.2 million cut in BPT revenues in the first two years could be made up with natural revenue growth and flat state spending, according to his plan.
Havenstein also would:
• Eliminate burdensome regulations that hinder growth;
• Link higher education investment for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects to help employers get better prepared workers.
• Pass right-to-work legislation "so that no one has to pay a fee or join an organization they disagree with in order to hold a job;"
• Create a marketing plan for the state, starting in the region, then moving to other states;
• Look to reevaluate current health insurance mandates on the books and create more competition among private insurance companies to drive down prices;
• Pledge to veto a sales or income tax and "rein in spending and oppose policies that might take us wittingly down that road."
Hemingway's plan
Last month, Andrew Hemingway, who Havenstein faces in the Sept. 9 primary, released a plan to overhaul overall state business taxes, and on Monday, he questioned Havenstein's proposal.
"I have released a real tax proposal that changes the entire current system of taxation in the state and I've done that because if we are to actually grow, expand and maybe get 25,000 jobs in here, that's what we need to do," Hemingway said in an e-mail. "A moderate reduction in one business tax, which only benefits large companies, will not create any economic growth.
"The rest of this so-called plan are platitudes. We all want to market the state better, reduce regulations etc., etc., but Walt, how, what? New Hampshire people deserve attention to detail, deserve at least a little bit of effort when it comes to how they're going to put food on their tables beyond stale campaign promises and rhetoric," Hemingway said.
Hemingway's plan would eliminate the 8.5 percent business profits tax, the 5.5 percent Medicaid enhancement tax and the 0.75 percent business enterprise tax as well as reduce the 5 percent interest and dividends tax to 2 percent. A new 2 percent business flat tax would extend to non-profit organizations, such as hospitals, as well as government agencies. The plan would help small businesses because it exempts the first $200,000 of business revenue and allow for instant depreciation of large capital investments.
Aaron Jacobs, spokesman for Gov. Maggie Hassan's campaign, tied the Havenstein campaign to former House Speaker Bill O'Brien and the Koch brothers, who are conservative political donors.
"Walt wants to take Granite Staters backward to the devastating cuts of the O'Brien Legislature, which slashed higher education funding in half, defunded Planned Parenthood, and cut critical services for children and families. And Walt continues to follow in Bill O'Brien's footsteps by pushing so-called 'right to work' legislation that would drive down middle-class wages," Jacobs said.
"While Walt Havenstein repackages the same anti-middle class Bill O'Brien/Koch Brothers policies that voters rejected last election, Governor Hassan is working to bring people together to get things done for New Hampshire's people, businesses and economy," Jacobs said.
Havenstein said he set a target date to challenge workers at Sanders, before it later became BAE Systems, to complete a key company project to deliver the electronic system for the F-22 fighter jet.
"The deadline, 8.15.00, was more than just a date, it was a call to action that rallied us all and focused our efforts until we made good on our promise," he said in his open letter. "We can bring the same culture to how our state attracts and grows jobs."


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John Habib's City Sports: Little interest, no team for once-proud JutrasBy JOHN HABIB
New Hampshire Union Leader
June 14. 2013 11:58PM
For the first time in decades, Jutras Post No. 43 of Manchester is not fielding a baseball team this season.
A four-time state champion, Jutras had only seven players show up for tryouts this week, and any hope of picking up players cut by neighboring posts — including the two others in the Queen City, Sweeney Post 2 and Manchester Post 79 — went by the board when those teams had just enough players show up to put together a lineup with a few reserves.
"Usually, players get cut or released from other teams, and I was hoping that would be the case this year," said Don Parents, Jutras' director of athletics. "But it's my understanding Sweeney Post had 14 players out for tryouts and Post 79 had 15. Bedford (Stevens-Buswell Post 54) had just enough, too. Bottom line is, none of those teams cut or released players because they couldn't afford to this summer."
The statewide American Legion baseball schedule actually started last Sunday, but Parents waited until this week to conduct tryouts, hoping the later date would attract players looking for a team. The gambit didn't work.
"It's disappointing," Parents said.
Jutras Post had 16 players on its roster last season, Parents said, but six of those players no longer are age-eligible. Others from last year's team simply didn't return.
"I don't know exactly why the turnout was so low this year," Parents said.
Those eligible to play for Jutras included residents of the Manchester High West school district and players cut by other teams. The drop in athletics participation at West — attributable mainly to the opening of a town high school in Bedford, which previously sent its secondary students to West — appears to have had an affect on Jutras Post, as well.
Parents said he will make another attempt to field a team next year.
"That's all we can do: wait and see," he said. "We've already told the seven players who came to the tryouts that we're willing to sign the papers and release them to other teams. We're not going to deny those seven players of playing baseball just because we don't have enough players to field a team."Paul Lemire, athletics director of Sweeney Post, and Eddie Poisson, coach of Post 79, were saddened to hear the Jutras program will be idle this season.
"It appears that with West High declining in enrollment and the fact Bedford and Goffstown both have a Legion program, Manchester may not be able to field three Legion teams going forward," said Lemire, who coached Jutras to its first state title championship in 1985. "Jutras Post has always been an integral part of city baseball in the summer. To see what has happened is both sad and disappointing to me."
Poisson, who also coaches the baseball team at Manchester's Trinity High, said it's time for the city to help West by redistricting the school boundaries.
"I graduated from West, coached football and girls' basketball there for over 20 years," he said. "It's a great school with so much tradition and pride. Making West strong makes the city strong again. Making West strong again means — and I'm not just talking about American Legion baseball — the (city) sports programs across the board become stronger."
Lemire and Poisson said their respective Legion programs have 18 players on their rosters this season.
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TRINITY principal Denis Mailloux said this week that before hiring Chip Polak as the school's new athletics director, he asked about an investigation into alleged financial improprieties at Polak's former place of employment, Southern New Hampshire University, where Polak was athletics director for 27 years.
Last summer, the state Criminal Justice Bureau launched an investigation into "irregularities" involving more than $100,000 at SNHU, with the focus of the investigation an unnamed budget manager. At the time, the only budget manager listed in the SNHU director was Ray Prouty, previously a longtime assistant to Polak, now no longer employed by the university.
Polak, who was on medical leave for treatment of prostate cancer when the investigation was announced by the state Attorney General's Office, resigned as AD in December but said the financial scandal was not a factor in his departure.
"We looked into it and inquired about it," Mailloux said. "I felt assured that this matter didn't cast any aspersions on (Polak). The information we received indicated no concerns regarding Chip.
"Having Chip join our team is a big plus for us," Mailloux continued. "We look forward to the quality of leadership he will bring to the program. We're thrilled not only with his experience but with his standing in the community. We know that the Trinity athletics program is definitely an onward-and-upward matter and that Chip will bring a lot of fine qualities to the position."
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THE MANCHESTER school board's Athletics Committee has posted the position of city athletics director as full-time, with a salary range of $69,530.39-$74,862.60. Current AD Dave Gosselin will step down from his part-time job, at an annual salary of $37,000, on June 30.
"We've allocated more money to the school side, and the school board can hire a full-time director if they wish," said Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas, who wouldn't comment on whether he supports having a full-time director.
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FOR THE 33rd straight summer, the New Hampshire All-Star Basketball School will be open to boys and girls ages 8-16 at SNHU. Men's basketball coach Stan Spirou and longtime assistant Jay Dufour will lead the instruction, with a staff familiar to followers of the local high school and college basketball scenes.
The camp will operate in two one-week sessions, July 15-19 and July 22-26, inside the SNHU Fieldhouse.
"We're not going to turn these young kids into great basketball players in a week or two," said Spirou. "Our goal at our school is for each kid to pick up one or two fundamental things and continue to improve upon them over a period of time."
Spirou said when he watches elementary or high school players, he notes many of them neglect the fundamentals of the game.
"The biggest weakness I see, which we work on at our school, is the kids' ability to pass the ball," said Spirou. "The first day in camp, the first thing most kids do is go behind the (3-point) arc and fire up shots. Kids today love shooting the 3-point shot, but that's not the first thing we teach."
Spirou said learning to play the game the right way begins with the basics.
"Dribbling, passing and sharing the ball are essential to learn at a young age," he said. "If you can master those basics at an early age, your game will improve dramatically. I often have said that the greatest compliment you can give a player is to tell them they make the other players on the floor better. You do that by learning and mastering the basics."
Spirou said the girls he's coached at the camp have been especially adept at developing sound fundamentals, citing two former campers — Stephanie (Schubert) Bike, who went on to play for the University of New Hampshire, and his niece Christiana Bakolas, now a guard for Bentley University — as two examples.
"Every year at our school, the girls absorb the lessons we teach like sponges — really pick up things quickly," Spirou said. "I come away each year impressed over how the girls are fundamentally sound. Their determination and willingness to learn has made the women's game better than when we first started our school over 30 years ago."
To register for the New Hampshire All-Star Basketball School, call 645-9680 or 645-9649, or email Dufour at email@example.com. The camp runs daily from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
"City Sports" is published Saturdays in the New Hampshire Union Leader. Email staff reporter John Habib at firstname.lastname@example.com.