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Historical figures of New Hampshire, unite! You have nothing to lose but your state-funded highway markers.

The sponsors of a since-removed Historical Highway Marker honoring Concord-born Communist Elizabeth Gurley Flynn are appealing the dismissal of their lawsuit against the state. They argue no person from the Granite State’s past is safe from having their legacy erased from the public record — a common practice in Josef Stalin’s Soviet Union.

Attorney Andru Volisnky says Merrimack Superior Court Judge John Kissinger was wrong when he ruled against left-wing activists Arnold Alpert and Mary Lee Sargent, who supported the effort to have the state honor Flynn. Volinsky warned Kissinger’s ruling opens the door for anyone having their marker removed arbitrarily by the state.

“The court’s ruling protects the decision to remove the marker no matter the reason,” Volinsky wrote in his motion for reconsideration. “All removal decisions are protected from review by the court’s ruling on standing. No one could challenge a similar decision to remove a marker because the subject of the marker was a Republican or Democrat, woman, LGBTQIA, Black, Brown, Asian, or any other factor an executive councilor or a governor deems objectionable.”

The state removed the marker honoring Flynn last May, weeks after it was posted by the state’s Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. When more details about Flynn’s background became public — like her lifelong support for Soviet Communism and her state funeral in Moscow’s Red Square — several members of state government, including Gov. Chris Sununu, called for the marker to be removed.

Alpert and Sargent worked for months to collect signatures as part of the process to get the marker approved and installed. They filed the lawsuit challenging the subsequent removal, claiming the state did not follow its own procedures.

“The purpose of the marker program is educating the public about places, events, and people of historical significance, a category which certainly includes Elizabeth Gurley Flynn,” Sargent said. “There is no provision in statute or in the rules governing the marker program that says established markers can be removed based on ideological rather than historical grounds.” 

Kissinger’s March 20 dismissal, however, found neither Alpert nor Sargent have the legal right to challenge a decision that belongs to the state. The marker’s creation and installation was paid for by the DNCR, and it was installed on state-owned property in Concord.

“While no one disputes the time and effort expended by the plaintiffs in relation to the Flynn marker, the court finds no support for a determination that such efforts give rise to a legal right, interest, or privilege protected by law,” Kissinger wrote.

Flynn, a labor activist, women’s rights pioneer, and founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, was born in Concord in 1890. She joined the Communist Party in 1936, a time when many Americans were abandoning it in response to Stalin’s purges. Flynn remained an unapologetic Stalinist, and as a result was kicked out of the ACLU in the 1940s.

Flynn was convicted in 1951 under the Smith Act for supporting a Communist revolution in the United States. She would eventually go on to lead the Communist Party USA. In 1964, she died while in Russia. An estimated 25,000 people attended her funeral in Red Square.

Instead of tracking down the super yachts, the Italian villas, and the secret off-shore bank accounts owned by Russian oligarchs’ key to Vladimir Putin’s power, western governments should target the money men, according to a new study led by Dartmouth College researchers. 

“Rather than playing whack-a-mole with each individual oligarch, you take out one wealth manager and you effectively take out several oligarchs in one fell swoop,” says co-author Brooke Harrington, a professor of sociology at Dartmouth.

With the United States leading a coalition of western governments aiding Ukraine’s fight for survival against Russian troops, stopping the money that fuels Putin’s regime has taken on heightened importance. The problem is there are many billionaires in Putin’s networks of kleptocrats who help shuffle money.

Using leaked documents that detail the flow of Russian cash through off-shore accounts, the Dartmouth-led study concluded targeting his money managers could cripple Putin’s regime.

The researchers studied connections between more than 1.9 million wealth managers and their clients from Russia, China, the United States, and Hong Kong. The research showed going after a relatively small number of money managers in a network could cripple it to the point of collapse.

Ultra-wealthy people from autocratic countries like Russia tend to use fewer money managers than their counterparts in the free world, according to the research. Most Russian money managers are located in the United Kingdom and Europe, making their financial networks particularly vulnerable if the West chooses to act on the research. 

“Awareness of wealth managers and what they do is still in its infancy in terms of public policy. To end the invasion, there’s an urgent need for sanctions informed by systematic evidence of the asset structure supporting Russia’s campaign—our paper provides that evidence,” Harrington said.

The researchers used the Offshore Leaks Database maintained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which identifies wealth management professionals and ultra-rich individuals revealed through high-profile information leaks such as the 2016 Panama Papers, the 2017 Paradise Papers, and the 2021 Pandora Papers.

Combining sociology and networked science, the researchers mapped the money’s movement and even created a visual map of the various financial networks.

“This allows us to be extremely precise about who and what we can target. We can even estimate the impact of specific sanctions and are developing metrics to identify new targets,” said Dartmouth Professor Feng Fu.

Putin, his government, and his cronies have been subject to punishing sanctions imposed by the U.S. and EU since the start of the war more than a year ago. The aim has always been to stop Putin’s ability to wage war against Ukraine, but Putin has continued to send in troops and launch missiles at civilians throughout the war.

A report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace predicted the Russian economy’s development will be in reverse for at least the next three to five years. However, it also acknowledged that “the predicted collapse has been avoided, and the forecasted 8–10 percent fall in GDP for [2022] has been reduced to a 3–4 percent drop.”

One reason has been Putin and his oligarch’s continued ability to access billions overseas in their hidden accounts.

Governments in the West have been sending billions worth of cash and weapons to Ukraine, which has managed to push Russian troops out of the Northern part of the country and is now fighting hard in the strongly held Donbas region.

The west can now use the data in the Dartmouth-led study to put a stop to the money funding Putin’s regime, and hopefully stop his war machine.

“To use a military analogy, we are providing a financial missile-guidance system for the countries trying to stop the war in Ukraine,” Harrington said. “A more targeted use of state-backed sanctions means a shorter war and less loss of life.”

First “Big Pharma.” Then “Big Oil.” Now…”Big Tampon?”

On Monday, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan sent a press release headlined, “Following Reports of Tampon Shortage, Senator Hassan Calls on Major Tampon Producers to Increase Supply.” It’s part of her “work to hold corporations accountable for unfair price increases and address shortages.”

Except, like her allegations about oil companies manipulating gas prices, Hassan’s claim of price-gouging by the feminine hygiene industry is unfounded.

“Access to menstrual products should be treated like every other essential good. At the beginning of the pandemic, price gouging of essentials like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and hand sanitizer was rightly criticized as an exploitation of an emergency for financial gain. Menstrual products should receive that same consideration,” Hassan wrote in a letter to the CEOs of Procter & Gamble, Edgewell Personal Care, Kimberly-Clark, and Johnson & Johnson.

Hassan’s accusation of “unfair price increases” does not appear to be supported by the facts. Instead, “supply chain issues and historically high inflation have affected all manner of goods,” Axios reports, including tampons. COVID drove up demand for plastic and cotton to make personal protective equipment, both key materials for making feminine hygiene products.

And, like much of the shortages seen over the past couple of years, COVID-related supply chain issues are having an impact as well. Shipping costs to move material and products have also gone up as diesel fuel prices continue to climb. Add to that the ongoing labor shortage many companies are experiencing.

Then there is the impact of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, constraining the normal supply of fertilizer used to grow cotton, further exacerbating supply issues. The price of raw cotton is up more than 70 percent.

And there is another twist Hassan doesn’t mention: Amy Schumer.

Procter and Gamble spokeswoman Cheri McMaster told Time that part of the blame belongs to comic Amy Schumer. She stars in a series of commercials for their products that have been wildly successful. “(R)etail sales growth has exploded,” McMaster told Time.

As the demand went up more than 7 percent, Procter and Gamble started running its Maine plant 24/7 to try and keep up. The industry says it is looking for ways to increase production.

“While the tampon shortage is part of a larger supply chain issue, price-gouging essential products is an unacceptable response,” Hassan said — without providing any effort of gouging.

“We understand it is frustrating for consumers when they can’t find what they need,” a P&G spokesperson told CNN. “We can assure you this is a temporary situation.”

In her tampon shortage press release, Hassan also pointed out she “led legislation to require a federal investigation into reports that Big Oil was artificially raising gas prices, and follows Senator Hassan’s previous calls for additional actions and updates regarding the FTC’s oversight of anti-consumer trade practices in the oil and gas industry.”

Hassan’s claim that oil companies have manipulated gas prices has been repeatedly investigated and dismissed by both Democratic and Republican administrations.

Political observers say what’s really at play is giving Hassan another way to motivate women voters, particularly young women who tend to vote Democrat and also tend not to show up in midterm elections. Hassan had campaigned aggressively on the abortion issue, which she refers to as a “women’s health” issue, advocating abortion without limits up to the time of birth.

Interestingly, one word that doesn’t appear anywhere in Hassan’s “tampon shortage” letter or press release?

“Women.”

(To be fair, the progressive phrase “people who menstruate” didn’t appear, either.)

Hassan said she is giving the CEOs of personal hygiene manufacturers until June 17 to come up with a solution.

Voters are giving Hassan until Election Day.

Nobel Prize winner and former president of Poland Lech Walesa said the United States can lead the world into a new era of peace and security. 

“Under American leadership, we can really improve this world,” Walesa said through an interpreter.

Walesa spoke to New Hampshire leaders on Thursday during a joint House and Senate session, as part of his speaking tour across the northeast United States. Walesa said the world has unfinished business with Russia. Now is the time for the world to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose rule is simply a continuation of the old Soviet Union, he said.

“Right now is that propitious moment to finish that task which I failed to accomplish,” he said.

Walesa wanted to completely “disintegrate” the Soviet Union in the 1990s, but was stopped at the time by American politicians, he told the Granite State lawmakers. With Putin sending his army into Ukraine to commit atrocities, the world needs to fight back, he said.

There must be a strong leader on the world stage, Walesa insisted.

“There is one condition for it to be successful, the United States really has to (step into) the role of the leader in the world,” he said. “This is the opportune moment for us to win the final victory.”

Walesa noted he led the Solidarity movement in Poland that helped defeat the old Communist order in his country, setting off the chain of events that would see the Soviet Union collapsed, the Warsaw Pact dissolved, and Germany reunited. But the job wasn’t complete and the world has authoritarian holdovers from the Cold War in Russia and China.

Putin must be defeated in Ukraine, and the United States must impose a better political order on Russia, he said. Otherwise, another Putin will emerge in the next five to 10 years.

Walesa’s message included criticism of the current capitalist order in the West and a lack of guiding principles among people.

“Societies used to believe in a God and many societies have rejected God now,” he said. “This is a world where everyone wants to drive, but there are no traffic regulations.”

Walesa sees the future world as a democratic and globalist, with people moving beyond the need for barriers. It is a world with a free market that takes care of the poor and dispossessed. But to get there, the world needs the United States to lead people to freedom.

“Providence has given you such strong potential. If unwilling, share your potential with Poland and we will try to put it to good use,” he said.

Poland has long been caught between world powers seeking to dominate it.

“We’re between Germany and Russia, who enjoy military socializing if you may remember. They would visit and revisit one another,” he said.

Walesa reminded lawmakers that Poland tried to warn the world about Adolf Hitler before World II and about Josef Stalin at the start of the Cold War, only to be ignored. Now, Poland is leading by helping Ukraine and taking in more than 3 million Ukrainian refugees.

Walesa got standing ovations at the start and end of his speech. But some of his criticisms of capitalism were met with silence, as was his call to confront Russia in a final battle. It didn’t stop Granite State politicians from getting their photos taken with the Cold War icon or tweeting about his speech.

State Rep. Laura Telerski (D-Nashua) called his speech inspiring.

“I heard Lech Walesa speak in Gaston Hall before he served as president of Poland. Today he addresses the @NHHouseofReps and Senate in joint convention. He still inspires,” she tweeted.

“Truly an honor to meet former president of Poland Lech Walesa,” state Rep. Kimberly Rice (R-Hudson) tweeted.

Gen. Don Bolduc’s appearance on Fox News was meant to highlight his military bona fides. Instead, it sparked a backlash from a respected Pentagon reporter and a call for him to drop out of the U.S. Senate race from at least one prominent Republican.

“Don Bolduc made reckless, dangerous, irresponsible comments regarding the escalation of the Ukraine war which renders him unqualified to serve as a U.S. Senator,” said Republican Corky Messner. “There are 100 Senators who will be called upon during these times to make critical decisions. Bolduc cannot be trusted to make those decisions.”

Messner defeated Bolduc in the 2020 GOP primary before going on to lose to incumbent Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. He was outraged by Bolduc’s comments on “The Next Revolution with Steve Hilton” Sunday night. And he wasn’t alone.

In the interview, Bolduc repeatedly claimed there were direct military actions the U.S. and NATO could take against Russian forces in Ukraine. He suggested the CIA or military could “get in there on the ground” in Ukraine, using “indirect fires and direct capabilities” to attack Russian targets. At one point, he said the U.S. could use “special operations troops in a way that we get in there,” though without “boots on the ground.”

His comments were viewed as so extreme, Fox News Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin called them out when she appeared on the show a few minutes later.

“I have to respond to comments from Gen. Bolduc,” Griffin said. “He really was way off the mark talking about what the U.S. really could do on the ground.

“Clearly, Brig. Gen. Bolduc is not a student of history. He’s a politician. He ran for Senate in New Hampshire and failed. He is not a military strategist. To suggest the U.S. would put an indirect fire or special operations or CIA on the ground to give Putin any excuse to broaden this conflict is extremely dangerous talk at a time like this.”

“I was surprised to hear it,” the host replied.

It was not Bolduc’s first media misstep. In November, he was roundly criticized for calling Republican Gov. Chris Sununu a “Chinese Communist sympathizer” whose family business “supports terrorism.” Bolduc also claimed he drove the governor from the U.S. Senate race.

Messner says enough is enough.

“Politician Bolduc has a reputation for outrageous, divisive political comments which demonstrates that he has very poor judgment. In the past, Bolduc’s comments could be laughed off, walked back, or cleaned up by his supporters,” Messner said.

“But now, Bolduc’s extreme comments are dangerous to all Americans, your sons and daughters, Ukraine, Europe, and the world. Politicians must have the prudence and judgment to avoid statements that potentially could push the Ukraine conflict to a wider war. Don Bolduc does not have that prudence and judgment.

“I am calling for politician Don Bolduc to withdraw from the New Hampshire U.S. Senate race and to end his campaign.”

Not surprisingly, the Bolduc campaign is not ready to fold up its tent. Asked about Jennifer Griffin’s criticism, the campaign declined to comment.

UPDATE: After this article was published, Bolduc’s spokesperson Jimmy Thompson sent this statement:

“If recent world events have taught us anything, it’s that American leadership matters on the international stage. As usual, Senator Hassan has been missing in action, and needs to be replaced. But you can’t defeat a career politician like Senator Hassan with another career politician like State Senator Morse or Town Manager Smith. It’s going to take a true outsider like General Bolduc, and that’s why he is the frontrunner in this race.”

Ukrainian Americans in the Granite State are hopeful that their home country will stand strong against Russian aggression.

“They are fighting for their lives, and they are fighting for the rest of the world,” said Christina Pasicznyk Vogel of the Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church in Manchester.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of neighboring Ukraine this week after years of aggression. Vogel said Ukraine has been the victim of Russian antagonism since 2014, when the Ukrainians overthrew the Russian-backed government. 

“I’m saddened but not surprised,” she said.

Vogel is part of the New Hampshire Ukrainian community, watching in horror as their home country is under siege by Russian military forces. 

Jonathan Messer, who is studying to be a deacon in the Ukrainian Catholic Church, said Putin’s incursion into Ukraine could be the start of a third world war. It is reminiscent of Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939.

“It is horrific and unprovoked. I think Putin is being a madman,” he said. 

On Monday, Putin delivered what historians and political scientists described as a “bizarre” speech laying out his justifications for taking military action against Ukraine. He described Ukraine as “historically Russian land” that was stolen from the Russian empire and has since fallen into the hands of neo-Nazis and corrupt “puppets” controlled by the West. He also described the country as an invention of the U.S.

Ukrainian member of parliament Natalya Pipa, an outspoken Putin opponent who deals with education policy in the government, gave Putin’s history lesson a failing grade during an interview on the NHJournal podcast Thursday.

“Ukraine has been a country for ten centuries. Our church is from the year 1019 A.D. It’s older than Moscow,” Pipa said. “It could be funny if it would be not so sad.”

Vogel said there are things the West, and the United States in particular, can do to counter Putin, 

“Sanctions are a start,” she said.

President Joe Biden announced new sanctions on Russia on Thursday, though he has to impose sanctions on Putin himself and specifically excluded Russia’s energy sector. It could take weeks or months to know if the sanctions work. In the meanwhile, Ukraine is on its own to defend itself.

Russian tanks were reportedly within 20 miles of the capital, Kyiv, on Thursday night.

“Putin is a war criminal,” Vogel said. ‘He is engaging in crimes against the international community and crimes against humanity.”

Messer said the western nations need to do more. Ukraine needs military assistance, and the Ukrainian people need humanitarian assistance.

“The western powers aren’t doing enough,” Messer said. “Boots on the ground is what is needed, and unfortunately it would lead to World War III,” he said.

Vogel said the Russian people do not want war, and she hopes Russian soldiers will turn away from the violent invasion.

Messer has been trying to get aid to a Ukrainian orphanage, but the last few weeks of tension with Russian have made the effort difficult. The package of medicine and clothing has been shipped to the 30 to 40 orphans, but not yet delivered, he said. It may never get to the children now with the invasion underway.

Biden has pledged that no U.S. soldiers would be deployed to Ukraine, but the U.S. would lend military assistance to NATO allies.

Ukraine has been targeted by Russia and other countries for centuries, Vogel said. She thinks the only reason for the continued existence of Ukraine is the faith of the Ukrainian people.

‘It’s a miracle they still exist,” she said. “The reason there is still a Ukraine is they have not forgotten God.”