it's time for a visit to

behind the blue wall

a million voices for darfur

my friend paulie sent this to me and i thought i'd share:

Dear Friend,I am writing to let you know I just signed a postcard to President Bush asking him to take action to stop the genocide in Darfur.Will you join me?Visit http://www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org/ to send your postcard today!Right now a campaign of rape, slaughter and displacement is currently being carried out in the western region of Sudan, the largest country in Africa. Government-supported troops have displaced 2.5 million people in the past two years, hundreds of thousands have died due to attacks, disease and starvation, and it is estimated that 500 men, women and children continue to die every day. You can make a difference today by sending a postcard to President Bush at http://www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org/We must put pressure on our national leaders to take immediate action. President Bush and the United States Congress have recognized the situation in Darfur as "genocide," but it will take much more than words to end the violence and suffering in Darfur. In fact this recognition imposes a legal obligation, let alone the inherent moral obligation, upon the U.S. to take action to stop the genocide.Visit http://www.MillionVoicesForDarfur.org to send your postcard today!If our leaders made Darfur a priority, hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved. Please join me in calling for immediate attention to Darfur and more robust action on behalf of the U.S. to support security efforts in the region. Visit http://www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org/ to send an online postcard to President Bush and to learn more about what is happening in Darfur and what you can do to help.Please also join us to rally in Washington, DC on April 30th. For more information on this Save Darfur: Rally to Stop Genocide visit http://www.savedarfur.org/Rally

cowl for erin

my friend erin is going to france until christmas eve. i made her this cowl to keep her warm on those windy french nights (while sitting at an outdoor cafe sipping on some powers IF she can find it). i used a combo of wool and silk for most of it and some baby alpaca here and there. i got the yarn at sit-n-knit in west hartford center (i LOVE it there)

cpl jordan pierson

An Empty Space

Charlie Company Marine's Death Leaves His Family Reaching For Meaning
By JESSE HAMILTON Courant Staff Writer August 29 2006 MILFORD -- The photos on the coffee table are like puzzle pieces, a thick stack of 4-by-6-inch hints about the Jordan Pierson his family couldn't know.There's one that shows the street that runs past the main cemetery in Fallujah, Iraq. Next, the view from the rooftop guard post on the edge of the compound where Cpl. Pierson was becoming a battle-hardened Marine. And dozens more, freezing the dusty faces of Plainville's Charlie Company against the monochromatic backdrop of Fallujah.Somewhere within these images is the man and boy his family knew, whose body is expected to arrive today on U.S. soil, a middle step in Pierson's long journey home.In the living room of his family's house in Milford, the wiry corporal's dress uniform hangs from a door. It had awaited his return, maybe in late October, just in time to attend his unit's Marine Corps ball. He had asked that it be ready for him, just as he had been planning his University of Connecticut class load. Pierson, 21, was looking to get his life together after seven months at war.On Friday, the news that he had been shot to death on a foot patrol in Fallujah broke this home open like an ant hill, leaving his family still hurrying purposelessly from room to room on Sunday, powerless to repair the breach.There is food to eat - so much that neighbors are making space in their refrigerators. People keep bringing it, their offering for the impenetrable grief that is settling in. Aunts, friends, his mother and grandmother sit around the dining table exercising their memories, stamping their versions of Jordan's unruly youth into the family record..........

and from 1st sgt grainger; Saddened hearts

Saddened hearts
Sunday, Aug. 27 -- It’s with a saddened heart that I returned to Charlie Company last night as we have lost a great Marine to the rigors of combat in Iraq: Cpl Jordan Pierson. Cpl Pierson had been a bright spot in his platoon, in a place that can take the softest of hearts into a void of darkness. Even when the gloom of combat reached deep in a man's soul, Cpl Pierson could bring the Marine back to a sense of purpose, a sense of why we were here, and that we were making a difference. Cpl Pierson was destined not to only be a Marine, but a leader among Marines. He fostered a sense of caring for Marines while still embodying all it meant to be a Marine. .......

we have a chance to donate supplies to louisiana school nurses

let's DO it! in the greater hartford area, a drop off point is the hartford armory.

Connecticut To Collect Supplies For Louisiana School Nurses

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The state will begin collecting health care supplies this week to help school nurses and school-based health clinics in Louisiana.
The new charity drive comes a year after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast.
"Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina. The images we have seen on television and newspapers remind us that the Gulf states, especially Louisiana and Mississippi, are a long way from full recovery and are still rebuilding," Gov. M. Jodi Rell said in a written statement. "Connecticut again stands ready to help in any way we can."
The list of supplies being collected includes new, unopened boxes of bandages, calamine lotion, cotton balls, dental floss, flashlights and batteries, gauze and gauze rollers, facial tissue, gloves, cotton swabs, liquid soap in a pump, adhesive tape, thermometers, tongue depressors and tweezers.
Rell and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco spoke last week. Blanco told Rell her state needs to restock school nurses' offices for the start of the new school year. Rell said her staff has also contacted the Mississippi governor's office.
The following Connecticut National Guard armories have been designated as drop-off sites for the supplies: State Armory at 360 Broad St. in Hartford; New Haven Armory at 290 Goffe St.; New London Armory at 249 Bayonet St.; Norwich Armory at 38 Stott Ave.; Stratford Armory at 63 Armory Road; and the Waterbury Armory at 64 Field St.
The supplies will be collected from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 31 through Sept. 8. The armories will be closed, however, during Labor Day weekend.

an invite extended to da liebs (to chomp down on a weenie perhaps)

i seriously doubt he'll show, but it was rather nice of of the greenwich democrats to invite da liebs to their picnic. i wouldn't have

DTC meal may get real messy Town party invites Lieberman to picnic

By Neil Vigdor Staff Writer August 27, 2006 Joe Lieberman will get an invitation to next month's Democratic picnic in rival Ned Lamont's hometown of Greenwich, but it could be no picnic if he shows up."I hope he comes. I think it'll give an opportunity for many of us to vent our anger," said Peter Berg, a Democratic Town Commitee member and Lamont supporter.Lieberman, who lost the Aug. 8 Senate primary to Lamont, has been ostracized by many in his own party for continuing the race as a petitioning candidate. His critics say his decision to mount an independent candidacy shows utter contempt for the party and its primary process.Some of them even debated whether the 18-year incumbent should be invited to party events such as the picnic, which will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Greenwich Civic Center in Old Greenwich."Even though many of us are unhappy with Senator Lieberman, he is still a Democratic officeholder," said Jim Himes, the DTC chairman............

my thoughts and prayers go to the family of Cpl. Jordan C. Pierson

Marine from Milford killed in Iraq
August 26, 2006
HARTFORD, Conn. --A marine from Connecticut was killed in combat Friday in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Saturday.
Cpl. Jordan C. Pierson, 21, of Milford, died during combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division in Plainville.
No additional information was immediately available.
Pierson was the second marine from the 25th Marine Regiment to be killed in three weeks. Lance Cpl. Kurt Dechen, 24, of Springfield, Vt., was on a foot patrol in Fallujah, Iraq, on Aug. 3 when his unit came under fire and he was shot.
Thirty-two servicemen and women and civilians with Connecticut ties have died since March 2002 in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pierson and another serviceman were hit with shrapnel earlier this year after a grenade exploded near them, The Hartford Courant reported in May.
Roberto Diaz, of Manchester, said he trained with Pierson in California and last saw him nine months ago.
"He was an excellent marine," he said. "He did his job to the fullest."

and from the courant

Marine From State Fatally Shot In Iraq

By HILDA MUÑOZ And TINA A. BROWNCourant Staff WritersAugust 27 2006A U.S. Marine corporal from Milford died from hostile gunfire Friday while on foot patrol in Fallujah, the U.S. Defense Department said Saturday.Cpl. Jordan C. Pierson, 21, was shot once through the shoulder and died at 12:12 p.m. Iraqi time, according to Lt. Col. Gerald Larghe, commander of the U.S. Marine Center in Plainville, where Pierson's company - Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines - is based. He became the third Marine with ties to the company to be killed in action since the unit was deployed in March.Pierson joined the U.S. Marine Corps in December 2003. He was wounded in the arms and legs by shrapnel from an insurgent grenade in May. He was treated at Camp Fallujah and awarded the Purple Heart.A full-time student at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Pierson postponed his studies to go to Iraq, military officials said. The unit is scheduled to return to Connecticut in October.Milford Mayor James L. Richetelli Jr. visited Pierson's family Saturday. "I expressed the condolences from the city of Milford," he said. "Once the time comes, this city will remember him in a big way. We are known as a small city with a big heart." .............

down with tyranny

this was left in the comments section of my posting (referred from the enigmatic paradox) entitled 'have you had enough'. i wanted to post the whole response. if you see it in your heart to make a contribution to the blue cause, the link is below.


Thanks very much for posting the lyrics and offering the download. Please accept my gratitude. The whole story of how Rickie Lee Jones and the 2 guys from The Squirrel Nut Zippers (Tom Maxwell and Ken Mosher) came to record the song is here at Down With Tyranny. We're doing our best to get it on the radio so people start to get familiar with it and we've offered it for free download at MySpace.com/haveyouhadenough/ (and in 2 weeks it will be available for free on all the big digital services). The goal, though is a little more involved. We've made 30 second radio spots out of the song. For targeted districts, with particularly terrible incumbents and particularly excellent challengers (like Jerry McNerney taking on Dick Pombo in CA-11 and Vic Wulsin taking on Mean Jean Schmidt on OH-02) we've replaced the line "it's time to throw the rascals out" with "it's time to throw Pombo out" and "it's time to throw Mean Jean out."The districts we're targeting can all be called "dollar a holla" media markets. A very little bit of money can go a relatively long way. Our hope is to get our ads up on the radio during October. We're trying to raise $250,000, not just for these two districts but for as many of the Blue America candidates as we can help. The list is here: http://www.actblue.com/page/blueamerica/ And that is also a place where, if you think it's worthwhile, you can chip in some money too. Even $10, if enough people chip in, will be incredibly helpful.It's been a real grassroots project from Day One and now supporters of candidates are doing remixes and making video clips and spreading it virally. This week a supporter of Coleen Rowley sent me a little video he made, which is up on YouTube. It's cute: http://homepage.mac.com/mmcintee/hadenough/iMovieTheater115.html/I'm sure you know Bush and his rubber stamp Congress aren't going away of their own accord. We can expect terror alerts and God knows what else from them to sway a voting public that has become increasingly disgusted with them. It makes people feel good to take part in ousting them and freeing themselves. Thanks for any help you can give and please don't hesitate to send me suggestions. Howie Klein downwithtyranny@aol.com