why these people didn't have to do ANY time is beyond me

it sickens me people get away with treating animals like this. it really does. well HER case is settled and SHE didn't have to do time, his case isn't decided yet. PUT THEM BOTH AWAY in a CELL COVERED IN EXCREMENT with KNEE DEEP EXCREMENT ON THE FLOOR. make them STAND IN IT as long as the animals had to. don't feed them much, just now and again toss them something putrid and nothing but stagnant water to drink.... (this is just a fantasy, i really am not cold enough to wish it were actually true EVEN THOUGH THEY DESERVE SUCH A PUNISHMENT)

Animal Cruelty Case Decided
By STEPHANIE SUMMERS Courant Staff Writer June 2 2006
In a major farm animal cruelty case, a 43-year-old Mansfield woman received a suspended sentence and probation this week after signing over to the town 30 malnourished and parasite-ridden horses that were found in foot-high manure.Donna Russell and her husband Kenneth Morgan, 48, were charged in late April with 51 counts of animal cruelty and four counts of confining dogs for an unreasonable amount of time. In March, animal control officers and investigators discovered the horses, dogs, sheep and goats confined without water, sufficient food and proper shelter on the 80-acre farm at 342 Mulberry Road in Mansfield. Two horses and a ewe were found dead.In a plea bargain agreement Tuesday in Superior Court in Rockville, Russell pleaded guilty to five counts of animal cruelty and received a five-year suspended sentence and three years' probation.Morgan's case has not been resolved. He is scheduled to appear July 11 in court........

if the fbi investigates me, it is NOT going to be because i'm pro liebs. that's for sure!

i went over to connecticut local politics to check it out myself. it may be MUCH ado about nada

Lawyer says FBI is investigating pro-Lieberman blog postings
By Don Michak , Journal Inquirer
A Hartford lawyer says the FBI has agreed to investigate postings promoting Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman's re-election on a popular Connecticut-based Internet "blog" in the names of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. Bruce D. Rubenstein, a former finance chairman for the Democratic State Central Committee and a Lieberman critic, said Wednesday that an agent in the FBI's Meriden office told him the agency would probe the postings on the "Connecticut Local Politics" Web log run by an Enfield man, Chris Bigelow.

The FBI as a matter of policy refuses to confirm or deny that it is conducting any investigation.Bigelow said Wednesday that he had not been contacted by anyone investigating the matter.Meanwhile, a spokesman in Obama's Washington, D.C., office, Tommy Vietor, said Wednesday that he could state "unequivocally" that "there is no way" the Illinois senator sent any messages to the Connecticut blog.He added that "whoever" posted one of the messages, which he said appeared to be based on reports of Obama's comments at the Connecticut Democrats' annual fundraising dinner, had spelled his first name incorrectly, dropping the "c."......

more on our brave (and KICK-ASS) connecticut librarians

i really AM proud to be a native. they're heros

Librarians Defy the FBI
By Larisa Alexandrovna, Raw StoryPosted on June 2, 2006, Printed on June 2, 2006http://www.alternet.org/story/36953/

Four Connecticut librarians, members of Library Connection, a not-for profit cooperative organization for resource sharing across 26 Connecticut library branches sharing a centralized computer, were served with a National Security Letter (NSL) in August of last year as part of the FBI's attempt to attain access to patron's records.
The NSL is a little known statute in the Patriot Act that permits law enforcement to obtain records of people not suspected of any wrongdoing and without a court order. As part of the NSL, those served with the document are gagged and prohibited from disclosing that they have even been served.
The foursome of Barbara Bailey, Peter Chase, George Christian, and Jan Nocek were automatically gagged from disclosing that they had received the letter, the contents of the letter, and even from discussions surrounding the Patriot Act.
The librarians, via the national and Connecticut branches of the ACLU, filed suit challenging the Patriot Act on first amendment grounds.
"People ask about private and confidential things in the library setting ... like about their health, their family issues and related books they take out ... these are confidential and we did this to protect our patrons from authorized snooping," said Peter Chase, Vice President of Library Connection."........

chris durang is talking up ned! (and talking down the liebs)

chris durang has a great posting about the liebs AND mr < href="http://nedlamont.com/"> in the huffington post

Lieberman - Why I've Cancelled My HRC Membership

Last week I sent an upset email to the Human Rights Campaign, the gay rights organization, telling them to cancel my modest monthly donation to them. I did this because I was furious that they had come out and endorsed Senator Joseph Lieberman. The HRC finds him friendly on gay issues.
Senator Lieberman is a firm supporter of President Bush's dangerous folly in Iraq..................

imagine if you will..................

note: i am going to post a couple of pictures of my handbag (yeah, i'm that brave) but blogger for some reason won't upload them. i'll try later

i am so angry with myself i could spit! at approximately 11:45 am in broad daylight on a VERY major street in hartford, i missed a photographic opportunity of a lifetime (this was yesterday, wednesday may 31st). i would have won awards, EVERY photography award there is out there. oh, i had my digital camera with me. i take it every place i go. it was stuffed somewhere down in the bowels of my handbag. well, handbag is a misnomer. it's more of a canvas type CASE. it's heavy too. i have a LOT o' stuff in it. consequently i walk rather lopsided at all times (but i'm STILL as graceful as a gazelle). there are several sections of hartford. downtown where all of the insurance companies are. years ago, downtown had giant wonderful department stores. g. fox and company was the biggest and best. it had 10 or 11 floors, i've forgotten the exact number. all of the state of connecticut came out to see their christmas display in december. i loved that store! the north end where i grew up. now it is the 'ghetto' section of the city. it still has some lovely old houses but it has a lot of homes and apartments in ruins too. within the span of the last week, there were SIXTEEN shootings in and around that neighborhood. my friend brian lives on the street i grew up on. he is one of those 'catholic workers' our govmint (rory's word which i just appropriated) is spying on. he was recently arrested at a protest in dc. i believe he is the ONLY white (i mean REALLY white, irish white) person living in that area. anyway, it's a SMALL world. another section is the north meadows. that's where a lot of trucking companies and porno shops are. then there is the south end. the south end was strictly italian back in the day. now it is some italian and very much hispanic. the italian grocery stores and INCREDIBLE bakeries are still there though as well as a ton of the best italian mom and pop restaurants. DAMN they make some FINE FINE FINE food. the section of hartford i was in is called the west end. it has a GREAT mix of people. young ones, old ones, all ethnicities, some VERY nice homes, some not so nice ones. tons of doggies (one of my favorite hounds, nero the pit bull lives in this hood), lots of restaurants of ALL types (authentic mexican, a 1/2 japanese 1/2 korean one, pizza joints by the dozens, and probably more little tiny chinese restaurants than any other place in the world, including china. my favorite pub the half door is in this hood too. well to get back to what i was really saying......i was stopped at a light on this major hartford artery and i glanced over at the sidewalk to my left. the only thing i could focus on (at first at least) were legs. BARE, CHUNKY legs starting at some cut off daisy dukes (when i say cut off i mean you could practically see heaven) and ending with some open-toed, open-heeled, strappy, platform skanky-ho shoes. oh i did notice her hair too. it was either wet or VERY greasy. she had a comb in her hand and was using it constantly. i instinctively had a feeling deep down in my gut something amazing and wondrous was going to happen. i unzipped my bag and started to fumble around for my camera (see recreation) while never removing my eyes from the vision on the sidewalk. all of a sudden, she bent over from the waist (still combing her hair mind you) and what was left of her daisy dukes disappeared up in her crack. i was frantic at this point. in tears, i couldn't find the damn camera! damn damn damn damn. too late - she stood up (wobbly on those skanky-ho shoes) and the light changed and i had to go. i thought about circling back but i had a very important errand to run. i really wanted not only the picture that would have brought me fortune and fame BUT i really really really needed to know if that poor lonely woman ever found the date she so desperately needed.

anyone check the whereabouts of rush???

Drug manufacturer offers cash reward in connection with robberies
May 31, 2006
MESA, Ariz. --The manufacturer of a drug being stolen during dozens of robberies at Phoenix-area pharmacies has put up a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the robbers.
Stamford, Conn.-based Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, is offering the reward through Arizona's Silent Witness program..........

i hope mr rivera is taller than 5'1" or...........

he MAY BE LET GO (well that happened in nebraska). time after time after time, i see these offenders doing SO LITTLE time. they hurt KIDS and they do a year or two, come out, THEN HURT THEM AGAIN. it is my belief sexual predators CANNOT be 'cured'. i do believe some types of criminals CAN turn their lives around, this segment CANNOT

(see: this posting if you don't know what i'm talking about or this one

Life sentence sought in child sex case
By Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press Writer May 31, 2006
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. --A convicted sex offender charged with making child pornography and preying on boys over the Internet faces life in prison in the first Connecticut case brought under a federal two-strikes-and-you're-out law for sex crimes.
Carlos Rivera, 35, was charged last year with using the Internet to entice two boys, 15 and 13, into sexual encounters.
Prosecutors last month added a charge of producing child pornography, triggering the Protect Act, which mandates life sentences for repeat offenders. Rivera's first strike was a 1996 conviction for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old.
The law is written narrowly and only covers certain offenses, so just using the Internet to entice the boys would not have triggered the law.
Rivera appeared briefly in federal court Wednesday to hear Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Glover explain the potential sentence if he is convicted at trial in July. Rivera, who has pleaded not guilty, spoke only to tell the judge he understood.
In February, federal prosecutors in Maryland became the first in the nation to use the 2003 law when 46-year-old James A. Reigle Jr. was sentenced to life in prison for producing child pornography after having already served time for molestation and possession of child porn......

this is a GOOD thing

they should do it for dogs too. EVERY town in EVERY state.

Mansfield levies fees for fertile cats
(Mansfield-WTNH, May 30, 2006 10:25 PM) _ Under a new ordinance, cat owners in Mansfield have to have their felines spayed or neutered or else pay a yearly fee.
by News Channel 8's Sara Welch
There are plenty of kittens and cats staying at the shelter in Mansfield.
All day long the town's Animal Control Officer fielded calls about stray cats.
"It's a huge problem. I find cats abandoned here at the shelter. People find strays in their yards," says Noranne Nielsen, animal control.
The over-population of stray and unwanted felines has grown so out of control in the Mansfield that town leaders are taking steps to stop it.
A new ordinance will require cats older than six months to be spayed or neutered.
"It's a matter of owners taking responsibility."
The mayor says part of the problem stems from the town's transient population such as students at UConn who leave their cats behind. Noranne Neilsen has seen the sad side of overbreeding.
"I have seen litters frozen to death in the winter or kittens eaten by coyotes and I don't want this to happen we want them to find a good home.".............

and from the courant

Mansfield Institutes Spay-Or-Pay Option For Cats
By STEPHANIE SUMMERS Courant Staff Writer May 30 2006 MANSFIELD -
- For all you dogs feeling singled out by the leash law, wait till you see what they're doing to the cats in Mansfield.Unlike their more regulated canine counterparts, cats don't have to wear tags and are free to roam. State law requires only that cats be vaccinated against rabies.But last week, the town council unanimously approved an ordinance to require that cats older than 6 months be spayed or neutered unless the owner pays a $75 annual fee for an "unaltered animal" permit.You could call it a license to breed.Town officials hope most residents will willingly pay the fee, but the animal control officer is ready to enforce the ordinance when cats are found and returned to their owners.Mansfield is the first town in the state to approve a cat spay/neuter measure, says Susan Linker, president of the Animal Welfare Federation of Connecticut.Why single out cats? Because those aforementioned feline freedoms have led to cat overpopulation and abandonment problems, say animal control and rescue experts. Linker says the best estimate of free-roaming cats statewide is 500,000......

our connecticut librarians are tough mothas!

i for one salute your principals and your strength!

Librarians bitterly decry gag order in Patriot Act case
By Frank Eltman, Associated Press Writer May 31, 2006
NEW YORK --Recently released from a months-long gag order, four librarians from Connecticut did little to hide their displeasure about the FBI's demands for records about library patrons under the Patriot Act.
"I am incensed that the government uses provisions of the Patriot Act to justify unrestrained and secret access to the records of libraries," said George Christian, of Windsor, Conn., who along with three others spoke out Tuesday for the first time since the gag order was lifted.
"Free public libraries exist in this country to promote democracy by allowing the public to inform itself on the issues of the day. The idea that the government can secretly investigate what the public is informing itself about is chilling," said Christian, executive director of the Library Connection, Inc., a consortium of libraries in the central part of the state.
U.S. District Judge Janet Hall ruled last year that the gag order should be lifted, saying it unfairly prevented the librarians from participating in a debate over how the Patriot Act should be rewritten. But it wasn't until April that prosecutors dropped an appeal of that order.
Speaking at a press conference organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the librarians, Christian noted with irony that the gag order was lifted only after Congress voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act.
"The fact that I can speak now is a little like being permitted to call the fire department only after a building has burned to the ground," he said..........

no surprise here

moveon is endorsing ned lamont as am i (although i don't have any political sway

Strong Signs of Rift Among Democrats
Support for a challenger to longtime Sen. Joe Lieberman indicates tensions over Iraq war. By Ronald BrownsteinTimes Staff WriterMay 27, 2006
WASHINGTON — The liberal challenge to Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) escalated Friday when the political arm of MoveOn.org, an influential online advocacy group, endorsed the political newcomer opposing his bid for renomination.Gaining the support of MoveOn's political action committee was Ned Lamont, a businessman who wants to unseat Lieberman largely because of the veteran lawmaker's staunch support for the war in Iraq.The group announced its backing after polling MoveOn's members in Connecticut.MoveOn has emerged as a leading voice for left-leaning activists, and the endorsement marks the first time that its PAC has sought to unseat an incumbent Democratic senator."Lamont's message resonated with members who want a senator who will stand up to President Bush on key issues and represent the views of most people in Connecticut," said Eli Pariser, executive director of the MoveOn PAC.With the endorsement, the group will seek to raise money and generate volunteers for Lamont among MoveOn's 3.2 million members nationwide.Lamont earlier this week gained an endorsement from Democracy for America, a liberal grass-roots group that Howard Dean established as his campaign for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination foundered. Dean gave up his leadership role when he became chairman of the Democratic National Committee last year, but the group is headed by his brother, Jim Dean.Lamont's candidacy also has become a priority for many liberal websites, such as Daily Kos — whose founder, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, recently appeared in one of Lamont's television advertisements........

dodd NAY (and i thank you) the liebs YES and i DON'T thank you

of course i'm NOT surprised by this vote

Roll Call: Hayden confirmed to head CIA

half of the marines in this company are from connecticut

once again, the courant presents another GREAT story about our service people. also, please remember IF you'd like to support a deployed service person (you don't get to choose who or where they're from), please join soldiers' angels organization. they'll hook you up with someone. all you have to do is write to your soldier (or sailor or marine, or airman/woman) and send a care package once in a while. i can tell you from personal experience what this means to those deployed. i can also tell you, i've almost had to THREATEN my soldiers/airmen to get them to admit exactly WHAT they want in their care packages (meaning they do NOT ask for anything and when they do, it's usually something they can share with others). join, it makes YOU feel good!


FOR CONNECTICUT MARINES, THE ENEMY IS EVERYWHERE
Story By JESSE HAMILTON l Photos By Tom Brown l The Hartford Courant May 28 2006 FALLUJAH, Iraq --

The Marines are filthy and tired and act hard, like they've been here two years instead of two months.Charlie Company's 200 or so infantrymen - half from Connecticut - are reservists, pulled from civilian life for the unit's first trip into the war. They will spend seven months running patrols, guarding posts, raiding suspect houses and manning checkpoints in one of Iraq's most dangerous cities.The men from Enfield, Colchester, Middletown and East Windsor are fighting in Fallujah to keep things from getting worse. They fight to buy time for the training of Iraqi replacements. They fight for an unknown future under yet-to-emerge Iraqi leaders. And, at the most basic level, the corporals and privates first class fight to keep themselves and their friends from getting killed.They rehash their battle stories sometimes before they've returned to safety, writing their own characters into the war movies they gravitate to. They court death in their spare time, watching violent movies and some playing video games of war. Under it all, they are young and far from home."We're trying to keep Fallujah stable and get out of here," said Cpl. Parke Stearns, 26, of Lebanon, Ct. The Marines here are fighting a war. But it's not always clear whose war...............