Get the lead out, and those nasty chemicals too

If you’re one of the many people who have a stash of nasty chemicals under the sink or in your garage, you’ll have a chance to unload them next week.

Household hazardous wastes come from everyday products from the home, yard or garden. They include oil-based paints, solvents, auto products, antifreeze, pesticides, gas and household cleaners. The stuff is corrosive, flammable, toxic or reactive.

People know they’re there, but don’t always know quite what to do with them.

Next Saturday, Aug. 6, is your chance to get rid of it during a collection hosted by the Nashua Regional Planning Commission.

For a small fee, residents can dispose of their household hazardous waste at the Nashua Public Works Garage from 8 a.m.-noon on Aug. 6.

It’s a chance to clean up our little corner of the world, and we hope people avail themselves of the opportunity.

AG made the right choice in joining anti-monopoly suit

Competition, more than regulation, is the bedrock of our consumer-protection system. It’s what keeps prices in check and forces businesses to pay attention to customer service, lest they lose their clientele to the competitor up the street.

As a general rule, fewer companies equate to less competition, which means higher prices for consumers. That’s why big companies always seem to be in merger and acquisition mode. It’s like they’re playing out a real-life game of Monopoly.

It wasn’t that long ago that New Hampshire had only one company – Anthem – writing health insurance policies.

There are five now, but the biggest – Anthem – is still dominant and had more enrollees at the end of last year than the others combined, according to an analysis by healthinsurance.org.

About a year ago, Anthem, the nation’s second-largest health insurance carrier, announced it wanted to merge with CIGNA, which is the fourth-largest. The federal Justice Department has come out against the merger, and now the New Hampshire attorney general’s office has, too, joining 11 other states in a suit to block it.

"The complaint alleges that the mergers – valued at $54 billion – would harm seniors, working families and individuals, employers, and doctors and other healthcare providers by limiting price competition, reducing benefits, decreasing incentives to provide innovative wellness programs, and lowering the quality of care," state Attorney General Joseph Foster said in a statement.

We’re all for free enterprise, but given that American Medical Association has said that the merger would hurt New Hampshire consumers more than those in any other state, the AG has done the right thing in joining the suit.

The iMpressive, iNfinite number of iPhones

Apple announced this week that it has sold its billionth iPhone.

"iPhone has become one of the most important, world-changing, and successful products in history," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement.

It took nine years to reach that milestone. It may not rank up there with the wheel, but the smartphone – by basically putting a computer at our fingertips where ever we go – has undoubtedly changed the way we live and communicate in much the same way that radio, and television did for our grandparents and great-grandparents.

Somewhere, the late Steve Jobs is no doubt smiling.