i saw ned lamont speak last night - and he WILL be connecticut's next democratic senator

well, it wasn't quite a speech, more stream of thoughts, a QUICK stream of thoughts

a couple of days ago my friend "s" (please note, i've invited "s" to post HIS views of the meeting right here on the nutmeg grater. we shall see if he takes me up on it or not) sent me an email saying mr lamont was going to be in west hartford on thursday night. it was being sponsored by democracy for america (well, an offshoot group of that dfa of greater hartford). i joined the group and signed up to meet mr lamont. a group of us, i'd say 15 to 20 met at a local west hartford restaurant. mr lamont was coming from another engagement so he arrived a bit late. he presented himself very well. he briefly talked about what got him started on his senate campaign (for the record he has not declared yet) then asked for questions. right before he left, he happened to sit down at my end of the table and the question i asked was, 'excluding the war, what do YOU feel most strongly about - regarding you and your family'. his first answer was he felt strongly about his NATION's health care system (or rather the lack thereof. i LOVED that answer because it is a passion of mine). he also mentioned education (as an aside mr lamont volunteered to teach a class or two at BRIDGEPORT HIGH SCHOOL a couple of years ago. that sure did make me smile), another thing i too feel passionate about (i personally think the lack of education is responsible for almost all of the ills of the world). then poof, mr lamot had to dash (he had a long drive home).
i liked what i heard and mr lamont has my FULL support and yes, i've volunteered already

the following email was in my inbox yesterday and i wanted to share it:
Dear Friend,
Since I said I was willing to challenge Joe Lieberman in the Democratic primary, we've been overwhelmed with notes of encouragement and people signing up on NedLamont.com. I've been traveling around the state too, listening to voters, and finding an outpouring of intense frustration with many of Senator Lieberman's votes. Democrats, Independents and even many Republicans desperately want a Senator who will stand up to the President's wrong-headed fiscal, judicial and foreign policy choices.
It will take an unprecedented grassroots movement in Connecticut, and unprecedented support from Americans everywhere, to beat an entrenched and well-funded incumbent like Joe Lieberman.
It's going to take numbers:
At least one hundred thousand supporters from across America to sign up to support us with a contribution.
Tens of thousands of people in Connecticut to sign up to help spread the word to their friends.
And I've promised I won't even begin this campaign until we have 1,000 dedicated volunteers signed up to work on a regular basis in every city and town across the state. (We're a little more than half way towards that goal right now.)
So today, I'm asking you to please forward this email to friends and family who you know would like to get involved. We need donors, volunteers and people who are just willing to spread the word up to election day.
Please ask your friends to sign up here:
http://NedLamont.com
Sincerely,
- Ned
PS: I thought I'd pass along this letter that has now landed in my inbox several times and been posted on some local Connecticut blogs...
_____________________
Maybe you realized Senator Joe Lieberman had to go when he voted for George Bush's war in Iraq. Or maybe it was for the poor job he did vetting Bush's FEMA appointee Mike Brown when he chaired FEMA's oversight committee. Or maybe it was his vote for cloture on a bankruptcy bill that will impoverish families unlucky enough to lose a job, or lose a wage-earner to illness or death, while enriching credit card companies. Or maybe it was his flirtations with privatization of Social Security and with joining the Bush administration. Or maybe it was his opposition to universal health care in 1994. Or maybe his flip flops on school vouchers. Or maybe his support of ruinous free trade agreements in Central America. Or maybe it was his countless appearances on Fox News, undercutting opposition to the Bush regime. Or maybe it was his op-ed piece in the Wall St. Journal with wild claims of success in Iraq. Or maybe it was his vote for the Defense of Marriage Act and his unenthusiastic support for civil unions for gays and lesbians. Or maybe his reluctance to condemn George Bush for misleading us into war, even though he loudly condemned Bill Clinton about misleading us about an extramarital affair. Or maybe it was his vote on giving huge tax cuts to oil companies in last year's energy bill. Or maybe it was kissing the President after his State of the Union speech last year.
Or maybe it was his vote yesterday to clear the path for Judge Samuel Alito to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. Twenty five Democrats sought to have an extensive debate on the merits of a judge who would roll back Roe protection, a judge who is a proponent of giving limitless power to President Bush. Predictably, Joe Lieberman wasn't one of them.
Rather than stew about this loss, there is something you can do to change the way our country is run. There is a candidate, Ned Lamont, who is considering entering the August Democratic primary for US Senate. Ned is a successful businessman, comes from a progressive background (his uncle led the fight against McCarthyism in the 1950's), is against the war, against the culture of corruption and for turning our country around.
Ned will enter the race if there is enough initial support for his run. He has a goal of 1000 Connecticut residents who will commit to volunteer on his campaign. You can be part of efforts to take back our state and country by going to NedLamont.com and signing up as a volunteer today. Tell your all your friends, and your friends' friends, to sign up too. Can Ned win? Maybe, but only if you and other concerned Connecticut citizens get involved now. This race will galvanize Connecticut politics and garner national attention. Many folks traveled to battleground states in 2004 because they wanted to make a difference, because they wanted to change the course that the nation was heading. But this year, the battleground state can be our own. The difference we can make is right here. I urge you to join me and hundreds of other Connecticut residents to sign up at NedLamont.com. Maybe, just maybe, we can make a difference this time.
- A Connecticut Activist


_____________________________________ PAID FOR BY NED LAMONT FOR SENATE
info@nedlamont.com

Gov. Rell Invites Use Of Web Site To Share Thoughts

tell governor rell any ideas you have on how to make avon mountain safer. i sure am going to write in. as i've mentioned in the past, i drove that to and from work for YEARS. i saw many an accident and i was almost in many an accident (but thank the good goddess i never was)

from nbc channel 30
POSTED: 1:55 pm EST February 1, 2006
HARTFORD, Conn. -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell Wednesday announced in a news release that a new feature on her Web site allows residents to share their thoughts on how to improve safety for all motorists on and near Avon Mountain.


governor rell's avon mountain site

A Message from Governor M. Jodi Rell

The recent
accidents on Avon Mountain were terrible catastrophes – and they are a powerful
reminder of how quickly life can change from ordinary to terrifying and tragic.
Since the July 29 accident, state and local officials – with the help of area
residents like you – have taken appropriate action to improve safety on and near
Avon Mountain. However, we can and we must do more....

thank you for speaking up for US attorney general blumenthal

i for one appreciate it! (and a shout out to mr larson as well)


Blumenthal asks Congress to rein in gas, energy costs
By SARA HATCH , Boston University News Service
WASHINGTON -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal asked Congress Wednesday for federal legislation to rein in the rising cost of gasoline, blaming much of the problem on the energy industry. "If I have one message for you today it is, ‘We need help ... We need help and we’re not getting it," Blumenthal told the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Blumenthal outlined a six-step plan to ameliorate the problems that are affecting many states, including Connecticut. He called for a one-year moratorium on oil-industry mergers; a joint federal-state investigation of the industry; more examination of mergers in highly concentrated markets; a ban on zone pricing, the selling of gasoline at prices that vary by location; expansion of refinery capacity and enacting of minimum inventory levels; and more work toward conservation and lessening dependence on oil...................

.....Rep. John Larson, D-1, Conn., who has been active in energy legislation, said in a statement that "consolidation has been a boon to the oil industry and a hardship on the American family. Such a basic necessity to our economy as fuel should not be concentrated in so few hands without some oversight replacing the controls of market competition. ..........

congratulations representative larson!

U.S. Rep. John Larson wins Democratic post
February 1, 2006
WASHINGTON --Connecticut Rep. John Larson was elected Wednesday as vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, one of his party's key congressional leadership posts.
"I've been around government long enough to know you stand on the shoulders of those who came before you," the fourth-term congressman said in a statement.
Larson won on a second-ballot vote, defeating New York Rep. Joseph Crowley 116-87. He represents Connecticut's 1st District, which includes Hartford and its suburbs....

if you race over to crooks and liars

you'll get to see a lovely (only a few seconds alas) video of "THE KISS"

crooks and liars Lieberman "out-hawks" McCain
Remember the Kiss? Never forget the kiss.

it's NOT me i swear.......it's mary

in front of the archdiocese of hartford wednesday february 1st

wednesday february 1st early morning

frontpiece of the cathedral of saint joseph, hartford

this would be funny if it wasn't real

and if he didn't kill people and if he didn't sexually molest at least ONE twelve year old (what the F**K was he doing out of prison or out of the hospital????? i just don't get it). and now this 49 year old marries an 87 year old woman?

Killer sent back to prison for violating probation Killer gets married, sent back to prison
DANIEL TEPFER dtepfer@ctpost.com
BRIDGEPORT — Frank Czumalowski, 49, is a former homicidal maniac who bludgeoned his grandmother and great-aunt to death and buried them under their rose garden in Milford, according to police. But that apparently doesn't preclude him from finding love.
Czumalowski was married Tuesday to an 87-year-old Easton woman. But Superior Court Judge Richard Comerford put a crimp in the honeymoon when he sentenced Czumalowski to two and a half years in prison for violating his probation in connection with his conviction for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old Fairfield girl.
The bride, the former Radmila Dobrijevick, pledged she would wait for Czumalowski, as he was taken away in handcuffs. "Who are we to judge," Czumalowski's lawyer, Rob Serafinowicz said later. "Throughout history there have been odd couples and things worked out well. In this case, all we can do is wish them the best and hopefully, with good behavior, Frank will be out in a year."
The nuptials were performed in Bridgeport by John Tedesco. The couple then went straight to court where Czumalowski pleaded guilty under the Alford Doctrine to violating his probation.
Comerford denied a request from the new bride for a week's continuance and sentenced Czumalowski to seven years, suspended after two and a half and followed by 32 months probation.
"At the risk of cutting short the honeymoon," Senior Assistant State's Attorney urged the judge to order Czumalowski to undergo sex-offender treatment.
In December 1977, Czumalowski, then 19, was found not guilty by reason of insanity of the murders of his grandmother and great-aunt..............

peace garden links you to robert cray's 'twenty'

today's peace garden blog has a link to a very moving robert cray video.

surprise surprise DODD votes to filibuster, liebs votes to grab his junk and run

and by junk, i mean his three piece set

Roll Call of the Cloture Vote
The Associated Press tallied the 72-25 vote:
On this vote, a "yes" vote was a vote to end the debate and a "no" vote was a vote to filibuster the nomination.
Voting "yes" were 19 Democrats and 53 Republicans.
Voting "no" were 24 Democrats and one independent.!

Democrats Yes
Akaka, Hawaii; Baucus, Mont.; Bingaman, N.M.; Byrd, W.Va.; Cantwell, Wash.; Carper, Del.; Conrad, N.D.; Dorgan, N.D.; Inouye, Hawaii; Johnson, S.D.; Kohl, Wis.; Landrieu, La.; Lieberman, Conn.; Lincoln, Ark.; Nelson, Fla.; Nelson, Neb.; Pryor, Ark.; Rockefeller, W.Va.; Salazar, Colo.
Democrats No
Bayh, Ind.; Biden, Del.; Boxer, Calif.; Clinton, N.Y.; Dayton, Minn.; Dodd, Conn.; Durbin, Ill.; Feingold, Wis.; Feinstein, Calif.; Kennedy, Mass.; Kerry, Mass.; Lautenberg, N.J.; Leahy, Vt.; Levin, Mich.; Menendez, N.J.; Mikulski, Md.; Murray, Wash.; Obama, Ill.; Reed, R.I.; Reid, Nev.; Sarbanes, Md.; Schumer, N.Y.; Stabenow, Mich.; Wyden, Ore.
...............By Lexie Verdon January 30, 2006; 06:12 PM ET

what can i say, i like branches and lampposts

early tuesday morning january 31st

it's a damn shame...that BIG building, the hastings, is just LANGUISHING there

empty for a couple of years...........why NOT help someone renovate it and get more people into the area? sounds like a damn good idea to me.
(the hastings sign by me this morning)

Culinary Institute's Plan Could Come Off Table
By JEFFREY B. COHEN And CHRISTOPHER KEAT
ING Courant Staff Writers January 31 2006 Plans to convert the dormant Hastings Hotel and Conference Center in Hartford into the new home of the Connecticut Culinary Institute are in doubt again, as the institute's efforts to get state money have proved unsuccessful.The institute has been hoping for $3.5 million that officials say they need to renovate the facility. The money has been approved by the legislature but has stalled on the desk of Gov. M. Jodi Rell."At some point it has to come off the table, and if it's not going to happen, we need to know ... because we need to find a Plan B," said Brooke Baran, an institute spokeswoman. "It's a little bit frustrating to know you have the support of the legislature for a great project in Hartford, when so many other large companies are leaving." The institute, Baran said, would probably have to shelve its plans for the Hastings "if we don't get a commitment from the state that there will be an allocation of dollars within the next couple of weeks."The project got a boost last summer with the endorsement from the state legislature. But after a meeting Friday of the State Bond Commission, Rell's budget director conceded that the project isn't a high priority.Although the legislature puts together a list of many bonding projects, the administration determines which make it onto the commission's agenda each month."The amount they want is substantial," budget director Robert Genuario said. "As yet, it has not reached the top of the priority list. We're certainly concerned about the amount of ... the request, given the nature of the project. That's a lot of money for that project."The Hastings, built in 1983 by Aetna adjacent to its Asylum Hill headquarters, was intended as a training facility with 271 rooms and 55,000 square feet of conference space. Its most recent operators ran the facility as a hotel, closing its doors in 2003, leaving more than 100 people out of work and forcing several other businesses in the building to close...............

scarf for a friend

who is leaving work today. of course i forgot today was her last day until last night SO, i got out the #17 needles, 3 skeins of different yarns (she's allergic to wool, so i used other types) and away i went. it wasn't in me to just knit a 'straight' scarf so i made it bubble out at some points. it looks blue but there is NO blue in it at all. it's a shiny black eyelash flecked with silver, a plain black eyelash and a black eyelash with little orange and brown pom poms.

droplets in the fog

monday january 30th

ned lamont video from the new haven q&a

thanks to ctblogger at connecticutBLOG for the following posting and the picture! please click his link for the video clips (and more commentary and more pictures)! and yes, i DID volunteer for lamont (i've not heard anything yet though)

...As you well know, Ned Lamont visited New Haven yesterday on his "listening tour" and fielded a number of questions from the audience ranging from his opinions on Judge Samuel Alito to his views regarding the loss of jobs in Connecticut.The turnout to the event was quite impressive (see below) considering Lamont hasn't "officially" announced that he's challenging Lieberman yet. What was also impressive was the show of support from Democratic Town Committee members from different towns (most notably Westport and Fairfield) including DTC member Mitchell Fuchs of Fairfield who recounted a not-so-pleasent encounter with Senator Lieberman which left the audience speechless......................

a little bit of connecticut history

i had no idea there were positions of 'black governors' in the colonies. it's an interesting article. please click on the link above and read the whole thing.


Black governors rode 'path for future'
By ANTHONY SPINELLI tspinelli@ctpost.com
Connecticut Post
A dignified rider, sitting straight atop his horse in a parade down a fashionable avenue, wears a silk top hat, a well-knotted cravat, starched white shirt and magnificent morning suit complete with a colorful satin sash.
That's the image, as recorded in an antique woodcut, of one of Connecticut's black governors, once obscure figures whose place in American history has re-emerged through recent research, highlighted in conjunction with Black History Month in February.
The black governors are important to remember, historians say, because they were the mediators of their time between dominant American whites and their black slaves.
These black governors functioned as the ceremonial chiefs and political voices of the black community from the American Colonial era through the middle of the 19th century, right up to the Civil War.
They were chosen for the positions by a consensus of area slaves rather than majority rule. The black governors had no authority over the white community, and often were the slaves of wealthy white families.
The black governors' primary role was to resolve disputes within their community. In many towns, the black governor prescribed punishments for other blacks. They often appointed lieutenants and deputies to help in their duties.
Several of Connecticut's black governors came from the Naugatuck Valley area.
One of them, Quash Freeman lived in Derby, but was born in Africa, and had been kidnapped as a child and brought to New England. He took the name Freeman to symbolize his freedom when his owner emancipated him.
During his years as a black governor from 1810-15, Freeman had a lieutenant so short they called him "Little Roman." His sword dragged on the ground behind him, said Katherine Harris, associate professor at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.
"We have not found Quash Freeman's burial spot, but we found his son's burial spot from the 1800s. His son, Rodwell Freeman, was also a black governor. He is buried in Bare Plains Cemetery next to his wife, Nancy," said Harris, who has lectured in Derby on the history of the state's black governors.
In Seymour, there was Juba Weston, who had two sons who also became black governors.
Primarily, the black governors from the Valley were involved in the Abolitionist Movement of the 1800s, which worked to outlaw slavery. Eventually, that goal was achieved when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863 — but not before the Civil War erupted over the divisive issue............

thank goddess she was found

even when and if granted, sometimes restraining orders are NOT enough to protect women. ms taylor is one of the lucky ones, she IS ALIVE!

Missing Hartford Woman Found Alive
POSTED: 1:42 pm EST January 29, 2006
UPDATED: 2:19 pm EST January 29, 2006
PALMER, Mass. -- A Hartford, Conn., woman who was missing for three days has been found in western Massachusetts.
According to broadcast reports, Paulette Taylor is in protective custody while her estranged husband Robbie "Rashad" Graham is being held by the FBI.
Police found the pair Saturday night in Palmer.
Information was not immediately available on how Taylor and Graham were found, but Graham led police on a chase through several towns before being taken into custody.
Taylor was reported missing Wednesday when she did not show up for work. She was last seen leaving her parents’ home.
She had applied for a restraining order against Graham, saying she feared for her life.......

sign up to support and/or volunteer for ned lamont

ned lamont

alse young

is believed to be the first 'witch' put to death in new england. she was hanged right here in connecticut in 1647. what makes me think of this? an entry on neil shakespeare's blog entitled 'fear of christians part 2, from january 27th. i am getting more and more frightened as the beliefs of others are THRUST upon us whether we want them to be or not. if we don't hold these same beliefs are we to be bound and tossed in a pond? are we to be hung? are we to be stoned? eventually my fear subsides and once again my anger takes over. i start foaming at the mouth and my head turns 90 degrees (uh oh)

(a while ago i saw a pbs special putting forth the theory some of these 'witches' were under the effects of ergot, a type of mold that grew on grains they used to make breads. )

connecticut's heritage gateway

research guide connecticut state library

alse young

from cotton mather: The New Englanders are a People of God settled in those,
which were once the Devil's Territories; ... The Devil thus irritated,
immediately try'd all sorts of methods to overturn this poor plantation: .... I
believe, that never were more satanical devices used for the unsettling of any
people under the sun, than what have been employ'd for the extirpation of the
vine which God has here planted, ... But, all those attempts of hell, have
hitherto been abortive, .... Wherefore the Devil is now making one attempt more
upon us; .... We have been advised by some credible Christians yet alive, that a
malefactor, accused of witchcraft as well as murder, and executed in this place
more than forty years ago, did then give notice of, an horrible plot against the
country by witchcraft, ... which if it were not seasonably discovered, would
probably blow up, and pull down all the churches in the country. And we have now
with horror seen the discovery of such witchcraft!

council on spiritual practices, Poisons of the Past: Molds, Epidemics, and History


words on witche trials from our state historian

"Most people know about the Salem trials, but what most do not know is that
when New England began to prosecute these cases, Connecticut was the most
aggressive witch prosecutor,” says Walt Woodward, state historian and an
assistant professor of history at UConn. Between 1647 and 1655, in the colonies
of Connecticut and New Haven “every single person tried and found guilty was
executed.”

connecticut state library resources on witchcraft (thank you sharon c for the correction)

on paper the gop election results may look bleak in the future

i hope they ARE bleak in the future. our protests should go beyond party lines (but they don't). why support an administration who grows fat from war (i.e. halliburton), who LIED about getting us into war, who spys on it's own citizens WITHOUT a legal warrant, who wants to take away some of our rights as citizens and / or as women, who doesn't give a flying f**k about our environment (and on and on and on)?

GOP Facing Battles In Blues Northeast States Balk At Iraq, Social Stances
By DAVID LIGHTMAN Washington Bureau Chief January 29 2006 WASHINGTON --
On paper, Republican election prospects in the Northeast this fall look bleak.President Bush's popularity has sagged throughout the region. Issues that motivate social conservatives are "deadly" up north, as Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4th District, puts it. And any candidate who voices strong support for the war in Iraq is almost instantly an underdog."Republicans have to defend the status quo and the president," said political analyst Stuart Rothenberg, and as they do, "Democrats will try to remind voters it's the Republicans who are impeding progress on a lot of issues."The GOP, however, sees opportunity from Pennsylvania to Maine as it rarely has in recent years."Republicans will be healthier," said veteran Massachusetts GOP political activist Ron Kaufman. "We have four Republican governors and a good shot in winning another in Maine. We could pick up a congressional seat in Vermont."Clearly, two Republican senators, Pennsylvania's Rick Santorum and Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee, face difficult re-election fights. At least four incumbent Republican House members - Connecticut's Shays, Rob Simmons and Nancy L. Johnson, as well as Pennsylvania's Jim Gerlach - could be in for rough races.........

mr shays please open your eyes.

bushwhacked 'abstinance only' plan DOESN'T WORK. it NEVER has and it NEVER WILL. people are dying. not just in africa but HERE too. education first mr shays.


Shays trip raises question on family planning
Shays stunned by trip Journey to Africa raises questions
PETER URBAN purban@ctpost.com Connecticut Post
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4, traveled to Africa this month to learn firsthand the effect of President Bush's ban on federal funding for overseas family-planning services. He got a stark answer in Uganda.
Sitting in a circle outside a crowded waiting room at the Naguru Teen Center, Shays casually asked the Ugandan youths how many of them had lost a parent to HIV/AIDS. The hands of seven out of 11 shot up.
"A parent, not just a family member. It just so dramatically demonstrates how pressing the needs are there," said Susan Yolen, director of Connecticut Planned Parenthood, who hosted the trip with Planned Parenthood Global Partners.
Tanzania and Uganda receive significant contributions under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which places a premium on abstinence-only advocacy.
Shays met with numerous youth groups, including clients of the UMATI Youth Centre in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Family Planning Association of Uganda-trained peer educators at Kyambogo University in Kampala, Uganda. Almost everyone he spoke with said that abstinence only until marriage — the hallmark of the Bush administration's approach to HIV/AIDS prevention — is a waste of time and money.
More than anything, people need access to condoms, according to an article posted on the Planned Parenthood Web site by Shirine Mohagheghpour, assistant director of Planned Parenthood Global Partners. Condoms, the most effective defense available to sexually active individuals and couples who want to protect themselves from HIV, are reserved for those who are at "high risk."............