Begin again: New logo an opportunity for Nashua

As part of Nashua’s rebranding effort, a new logo and tagline were released at an aldermanic committee meeting this week. The circular logo features the city’s two rivers entwined to form a blue infinity sign in the middle, with wave-shaped elements of a yellow sun above and green trees below. The tag line “Dare to Begin” references the pioneering spirit of the city’s early inhabitants and the potential for new growth and development in the future. A more formal rollout of the marketing and branding initiative is scheduled for early September.

As with any marketing makeover, public opinion will vary greatly, especially in the early going. People’s first impressions often mature as they see marketing makeovers in actual use. And it must be remembered that, in the end, the best marketing is only as good as the product and services it promotes. “Dare to Begin” is a good first start that carries the potential of reshaping the city image and focusing community attention and building a city of the future.

An idea that won’t get
off the ground in NH

Following George Zimmerman’s acquittal on charges he murdered Trayvon Martin, New Hampshire Attorney General Joe Foster said the state should revisit its “stand your ground“ law.

Not happening. In two separate interviews with The Telegraph’s editorial board over the past two weeks, Senate President Peter Bragdon and Speaker of the House Terie Norelli turned thumbs down on the notion. Bragdon said the state’s law is fine and doesn’t need to be changed and Norelli said that because there is no support in the Senate for such a move, the House shouldn’t waste it time on it. It’s a case of two strikes and you’re out.

Party threat smacks of
political gamesmanship

Another example of just how pathetically petty American politics has become came this week when the Republican National Committee threatened to block CNN and NBC from the 2016 presidential debate process if the networks did not cancel planned films on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is currently considered by many as the Democratic Party’s frontrunning presidential nominee. New Hampshire GOP head Jennifer Horn jumped on the bandwagon as well. There could be a little gamesmanship going on here. It’s suggested the GOP is less concerned with films than getting other concessions from the networks on how the 2016 debates will be constructed so as to paint the party in a more favorable light. Even so, to pick a pair of still-in-the-works Hillary Clinton films to stake that claim suggests an unhealthy level of political paranoia.

Just how much lower can
Alex Rodriguez possibly fall?

What color is the sky in Alex Rodriguez’s world? Nailed by Major League Baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs and then trying to cover his tracks, the disingenuous slugger is the only one of 14 other players punished the past few weeks to appeal his suspension. Of course, he’s hoping to get his 211-game suspension reduced and thus get back a few million dollars he stands to lose out of his original $275 million contract with the New York Yankees. Even if the full suspension is upheld by an arbitrator, Rodriguez is in line to earn another $61 million. Perhaps, with his dignity in shambles and chances of making to the Hall of Fame non-existent, he believes he has nothing else to lose. Perhaps he’s right.

Obama right to cancel trip
to meet with Vladamir Putin

President Barack Obama won’t be traveling to Russia next month to chat with President Vladimir Putin. That’s a good thing. Granting temporary asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden sparked Obama’s decision, but there is a long list of other issues that divide the two countries, including the Syrian civil war.

Under the circumstances it’s unlikely the Obama-Putin summit would have produced any constructive results.

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