Six (or more) flags over Manchester, NH

Oh, how I wish this flag, as imagined last year by Uproxx, really were the New Hampshire state flag:

Alas, this what we here in the Granite State are stuck with:

And here in Manchester, our city flag is just as boring:

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Sarah Palin gettin' maverick-y in Manchester, NH?

She might be playing coy with the national media, but Sarah Palin can't fool me: I know for a fact that Sarah Barracuda will, in fact, enter the race for the 2012 Republican nomination.

And while I'm certainly no fan of the former Alaska governor, I have to admit her New Hampshire strategy is refreshingly unique. While potential rivals like Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty (T-PAW!) are busy with book signings and meetings with business owners here in the Granite State, Palin opted to open a gas station at 15 Willow St. to prove to Granite Staters that she has actual experience when it comes to job creation and stimulating the economy. 

Now according to the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office, the aforementioned gas station is owned by a one Tanveer Akhter, but anyone with half a brain can see right through that not-so-clever ruse. I mean, for starters, just look at the name of the place:

You'll also notice that the former Mayor of Wasilla got all "maverick-y" with spelling of "Maverick," at least on the awning above the gas pumps. I mean, who needs that elitist, East Coast, uppity correct spelling, anyway?

 I'm on to you, Sarah. Momma didn't raise no fool.

Where to find the Manchester elite

That more than one-third of North End children attend private schools doesn't really surprise me. That nearly 40 percent of those who live near Lake Massabesic do, does:

The above color-coded map showing the concentration of Manchester kids in private school was created for The New York Times' Mapping America project, with data from 2005-2009 gleaned from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

The North End also leads the city in the percentage of residents who have a minimum of a bachelor's degree, at an average of 47 percent for the city's three northern most east side census tracts. The Center City and lower West Side have the lowest rates, with a low of 5 percent in the West Granite/Squog neighborhood:

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Organize, Manchester, organize!

Still looking for the perfect Christmas gift for those Manchester, NH, residents on your list? If so, I'd like to suggest this timely tome:

Truth be told, by gifting Organizing for Social Change: the Midwest Academy Manual for Social Activists you’d be doing double gift duty by benefiting not just your Mancunian giftee, but Manchester itself.

For Organizing for Social Change is probably the best book on the market these days that provides the reader the fundamentals of direct action organizing. And Manchester, NH, could use a little more organizing.

Community organizing came to the forefront of our political discourse during the 2008 presidential campaign, when Sarah Palin, et al, derided Obama’s organizing background.

For those who are still unfamiliar with community organizers, they can be defined as those who identify "leaders in a community and then helps those people tackle local problems. They research possible solutions, teach people how to figure out who can help and how to explain their concerns, then try to pressure the powerful into taking action."

As a professional community organizer myself,

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Where to go when you need to go in Manchester, NH

After driving about an hour through the Scottish countryside last Sunday, my wife and I arrived in the town of Balloch, on the bonnie shores of Loch Lomond. And when we got there, the missus had go. And I mean really, really go.

The only places around that had facilities, however, were restaurants and pubs — places where one is expected to buy something in exchange for use of the loo. But alas, we did not have time for a wee pint or dram of whiskey.

But then, miraculously, we can upon this:

The sign posted to the left of the door informed us that for a mere 10 pence (about 16 cents at current exchange rates), we could use this spacious (about the size of four standard port-a-potties) water closet, which cleans, disinfects and air dries itself and the floor:

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