i am sorry for your loss

the loss of stephen bixler, aged 20. my thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends

(and of course with everyone deployed in the middle east). if you read the second article below, the father of cpl bixler has a simple request; remember our deployed men and women and SEND A CARE PACKAGE. do it! it will make you feel SO good (not even thinking about how it will make THEM feel). i send four soldiers and airmen care packages (and this reminds me, i'm due to send the next ones). i know they share what is in those packages with their fellow mates. you don't have to spend tons of money. ANYTHING is appreciated. candy, or books or magazines. socks and tee shirts. dvds, music, puzzles, little games, batteries, hot chocolate or powdered drink mixes. you can no longer just send a package to general delivery you MUST have a soldiers (or sailors or airmens or marines) name and address. i got mine from a wonderful organization called soldier's angels




Marine from Connecticut killed in Iraq, father says
By Shelley K. Wong, Associated Press Writer May 4, 2006

SUFFIELD, Conn. --A U.S. Marine killed in Iraq this week was remembered in his hometown Thursday as an admired young man who excelled at academics and athletics in high school and enjoyed helping others.
Stephen Bixler, 20, was killed Wednesday while on his second tour of duty in Iraq, said his father, Richard. He served both tours in the insurgency hotbed of Fallujah, his father said.
"He was on a foot patrol, that's all we know right now," Bixler said. "We were very proud of what he was doing. He would say a lot of positive things. He was totally committed to his mission."
An Eagle Scout, Bixler joined the Marines shortly after graduating from Suffield High School in 2003, his father said.
Bixler is the 30th person from Connecticut who has died since March 2002 in Iraq and Afghanistan. Two of those killed were civilian workers........

Marine made family proud


By:Jennifer Hoyt , Journal Inquirer
SUFFIELD - An electric candle still glows at the home of Cpl. Stephen Bixler, 20, a Marine who was killed in Iraq on Wednesday.Bixler's mother, Linda Bixler, turned on the candle when her son was deployed, and it was meant to stay lit until he returned.
But early Thursday morning, two Marines walked past trees wrapped in yellow ribbons, and knocked on the door below the red Marine Corps flag to deliver the news all military families dread:Bixler, they said, was killed while on foot patrol in Al Anbar province. No further information was available; the family would be getting a call with more details, the Marines said. Hours later, Linda's candle glowed, because, she said, her son still hasn't come home.The yellow ribbons, the Marine Corps flag, and the candle were still there Thursday, reflecting the family's strong pride in their son."He was doing what he wanted to do," said Bixler's father, Richard Bixler, dressed in a Marine Corps T-shirt. "He was very proud of what he was doing, we are very proud of what he was doing."And then the grieving father, who was sitting below a picture of his son and Stephen's twin sister, Sandra Bixler, when they were toddlers, offered a request to those who are concerned about the family."At the same time you think of Steve, remember all the other men and women who are serving our country," Richard said. "Send them a package, tell them thank you."The Bixlers are experts at sending care packages - they sent one to Stephen every week...........

i'm NOT going to be politically correct on this one

nor am i apologizing for how i feel. ONCE a taliban ALWAYS a taliban and no one can shake that belief from me. i don't trust this man as far as i can throw him. please understand i am NOT speaking against islam or the people of the middle east. i am ONLY speaking against the taliban (here and now). not only do i think he shouldn't be allowed at yale (at all) but i think he should have NEVER been allowed to enter this country at all. i don't care to or want to better understand THOSE kinds of beliefs. i don't care if he understands 'ours' either because i don't think it possible. some people ARE capable of change. no members, current or prior or future of the taliban are in that group

Request Stokes Debate Over Yale Student With a Taliban Past

By ALAN FINDER
A student at Yale University who was once a roving ambassador for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has applied for admission to a degree-granting program, putting new pressure on university officials in an emotionally charged political debate over his presence at Yale.
The student, Sayed Rahmatullah Hashemi, 27, began taking courses at Yale last summer in a nondegree program for untraditional students. After an article about his experience appeared in The New York Times Magazine on Feb. 26, Yale was fiercely criticized in opinion articles in The Wall Street Journal and in other newspapers and magazines, as well as on cable news shows and Web sites.
Four alumni began a blog, Nail Yale, that questioned why someone they described as "an apologist for a brutal, misogynistic, terrorist-abetting tyranny" was being allowed to attend one of the country's most selective universities. And some families of victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and of American servicemen and women in Afghanistan accused the university of harboring a representative of a regime that had committed myriad crimes and repeatedly violated human rights........

this is for YOU mr shilliday

over at left of center

Hamden bakery featured in The Sopranos

(Hamden-WTNH, May 3, 2006 12:20 PM) _ A little bit of Hollywood is shining on DiSorbo's Italian Bakery in Hamden. Their prized cannolis are going to get a little prime time exposure with Tony Soprano.
by News Channel 8's Jodi Latina
If you're a fan of The Sopranos you may have already seen DiSorbo brothers Joe and Steve in a highlight promoting the next episode. Why are they hanging with the Soprano's? It's all about the holy cannoli.
DiSorbo's Italian Bakery has been whipping up delicious pastries for nearly 40 years.
"Everyone loves cannoli's ... also pronounced ga-noli which is incorrect," says Joe DiSorbo.....

the lovely and talented pissed off patricia (or as WE like to call her p o p)

has a GREAT posting Could you leave him behind as a hurricane approached?

PLEASE HELP Ask your legislators to support the Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards (PETS) Act today......


go on over and give her a howdy! (oh and read the posting of course)

this isn't funny anymore - lewis does NOT have to be put down!

damn, if she keeps him inside, everything will be fine! why kill the pusspuss? damn damn damn that's just not right
Fairfield's Lewis The Cat Case Going To Trial
POSTED: 8:18 am EDT May 3, 2006
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- The case involving a Fairfield, Conn., cat that's accused of viciously attacking several neighbors is going to trial.
Faced with getting probation on the condition she have Lewis the cat euthanized, Ruth Cisero has opted to go to trial to keep her cat alive.
The case of Lewis, who was ordered confined to Cisero's High Street home after he attacked several women, including an Avon lady, has attracted international attention. More than 500 "Save Lewis" T-shirts have been sold to raise funds for a defense fund for Cisero.........

the connecticut post first broke the lewis story and they have a LOT of lewis articles. here is one of them Another day in court for Lewis
there are links to others in the upper right hand corner. it's worth the read

if i was the judge, i would have made mr bracone do the time

and when mrs gets sentenced at a later date, made HER do the time as well. i'm not one of these snooty mothers who join an organization and act all hoitey toitey BUT i take seriously parents who CONDONE underage KIDS drinking in their home. i'm glad mr bracone is going to get counceling for 'alcohol abuse' BUT if he doesn't think he has a problem we all know that counceling won't do ONE DAMN BIT OF GOOD (in all fairness i don't know if he thinks he has a problem or not)

Father Avoids Prison For Teen Drinking Party
By GREGORY SEAY Courant Staff Writer May 3 2006
A Farmington father arrested with his wife after a Jan. 13 underage drinking party inside the family's million-dollar home avoided prison Tuesday by pleading to a lesser charge, but not before the prosecutor rebuked him for behavior that outraged residents."What you did went beyond bad judgment," Assistant State's Attorney Tom O'Brien, father of a teen daughter, said in Superior Court in Hartford as Paul J. Bracone stood impassively as his co-defendant, his wife, Dawn Bracone, sat behind him. "It was illegal."Prosecution of the Bracones focused attention locally and at the state level on the problem of parents allowing so-called house parties at which minors consume alcohol. The state House of Representatives passed legislation criminalizing such acts, and the Senate unanimously approved the bill Tuesday night.Bracone, 50, the owner of a Southington metal finishing company, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree reckless endangerment. Judge Wendy W. Susco sentenced him to a suspended one-year prison term and two years' probation.Bracone at first faced at least 10 years in jail. He and his wife had been charged with risk of injury to a minor and delivery of alcohol to a minor - felonies - in connection with the keg party that authorities said attracted about 150 people, including dozens of teens, to their 10,000-square-foot home in the posh Devonwood subdivision.The father of three also must undergo counseling for alcohol abuse, which, the prosecution said, is a problem in the Bracone household. He also was ordered to pay $1,000 by Sept. 15 in each year of his probation to fund underage drinking awareness education at Farmington High School........

here's my original posting on the story

i went to see my friends b & e yesterday

the FIRST time i've been in their home believe it or not, and i've known b FOREVER. it was THE most charming home i have ever seen! it was a place i would love to live. beautiful gardens as well. lots of ravens in pictures, on rugs, hanging over a frame in the living room. i got the brilliant idea of taking some pictures JUST as i was about to leave. i shall take more when i return (i KNOW i will be back. e lent me his most prized possession; his dvd collection of xena; warrior princess. of course we're BOTH fans. b just doesn't understand). they have some wonderful mose t works on their stairwell wall. LOVELY! the seven little white heads are the seven deadly sins (of course) and they are hanging over the kitchen door. b collects all sorts of scary old dolls she finds at antique shops or tag sales. lots of WICKED clowns. creepy yet they just fit in at the same time.

(please don't forget b is the one who gave me a MILLION severed doll heads so i could decorate my area at work. i USED to have a stunning area, pinata and all!)

i was number 20,183

thank y ou stephen colbert

happy may day

may flowers, azalea and single wild violet for may day

i'm STUNNED too state senator mcdonald!

i sure don't understand what possible GOOD defeating this bill is doing. is the nra so deep up your asses you can't pass a bill that would help to get ILLEGAL GUNS OFF OF THE STREETS? damn damn and damn

House rejects stolen gun penalties

Greenwich Time By Tobin A. Coleman April 29, 2006
The state House of Representatives last night defeated an amendment that would have required gun owners to report lost or stolen weapons within 72 hours or face criminal charges.
By a vote of 79 to 66, the House rejected the amendment backed by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and law enforcement officials across the state.
Shooting deaths and gun crimes this past year in Stamford and Norwalk were among those cited by Connecticut Against Gun Violence, a group that lobbied for the amendment.
Supporters, including police chiefs, rank-and- file officers and the head of the state police, said the bill closes a legal loophole that has allowed the flow of guns to increase.
The Senate last week passed the amendment 28 to 5 with bipartisan support, including 22 co-sponsors.
State Sen. Andrew McDonald, D-Stamford, the main sponsor of the measure, said he was 'stunned' by the outcome in the House.
'Wow,' McDonald said when told about the outcome. 'That's too bad. I'm very surprised and disappointed. The bill came out of the Senate on an extraordinarily strong bipartisan vote and I had high hopes for it. . . . I'm also very surprised because we've had a rash of gun violence in major cities across the state and even in some small towns.'
McDonald said he will bring the bill up again next year if he is re-elected.

check out brandfordboy's

posting about ned lamont (being in today's washington post) on my leftnutmeg. it's a DAMN fine blog