Thursday, December 13, 2007

snow





























shout out to todd m. myers


west hartford cop, simsbury volunteer firefighter AND HERO

as i've mentioned before, i have a friend who was in the horrific avon mountain accident. mark was injured so badly, he was lifestar-ed out. he's writing a book (i was privileged enough to be allowed to read the first four AMAZING chapters) about it. oh, and he's NOT writing it for profit (for himself that is). a shout out to mark as well! mark told me a few things about officer myers that were never mentioned in any of the articles written about him. let's just say he MORE than deserves this national honor. congratulations to you officer myers

President Bush Honors West Hartford Officer
Man Risked Life At Crash Scene

By FULVIO CATIVO Courant Staff Writer

President Bush honored West Hartford police officer and Simsbury resident Todd M. Myers Wednesday for risking his life to rescue victims of the horrific July 2005 crash at the foot of Avon Mountain.At an Oval Office ceremony Wednesday, Bush described as "heroic" the efforts of Myers and the four other recipients of the 2005-06 Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor. The four other honorees — two firefighters, a police officer and a highway patrolman — hail from Virginia and California."They will tell you they were just doing their job; I'm telling you they did their job with extraordinary courage," Bush said. "And so it's been an honor to award them this precious medal. And I want to thank you all very much for joining us. Proud to call you fellow citizens."..........
picture: President Bush and U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey pose for photos with recipients of the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2007, in the Oval Office. From left are: Officer Kevin Howland of Sacramento; Officer Todd Myers of West Hartford, Conn.; Attorney General Mukasey; President Bush, Sgt. Kirk Van Orsdel of Hemet, Calif., and David Loving, a firefighter from Richmond, Va.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

if you're in the new haven area tomorrow

from: justin goodman
Foxes in the Henhouse: Animals, Agribusiness, and the Law
Thursday, December 13, 6:10 PM , Room 122, Yale Law School , 127 Wall St .
Free and open to all. Refreshments will be served.
David Wolfson will present a lecture on the state of legal protection for farmed animals in the United States . Most state anti-cruelty laws exempt "customary farming practices." Wolfson will examine how these exemptions made it into the statutes and the dampening effect they have on courts' ability to hear even cases of egregious animal cruelty.
Wolfson is a partner in the Global Corporate Group at Milbank, Tweed , Hadley & McCloy LLP. He teaches animal law at Columbia Law School and NYU Law School , where he is currently an adjunct professor. He has represented several animal protection organizations—including the Humane Society of the United States , Farm Sanctuary, and the Animal Legal Defense Fund—and has written extensively in the area. Recent works include a chapter in Animal Rights (edited by Martha Nussbaum and Cass Sunstein) and a forthcoming article in Law and Contemporary Problems.

CONNECTICUT FOR ANIMALS
connecticut for animals

www.uchckillsmonkeys.com

some incredibly disturbing news

from the brass file by john murry (who did a great reporting job on this)
(via andy thibault the cool justice report who has written many great articles on this)

(to the smolinskis, i am constantly keeping you in my thoughts and prayers, i am speechless. i am greatly disturbed about this. i am in disbelief about this. i am wondering what sort of attorney took her case? i am wondering how these people sleep at night. i had better stop now )
December 2007 - A Punch In The Face
In A Bizarre Twist, Billy Smolinski's ex-girlfriend, Madeleine Gleason, sues the Smolinski family, and The Waterbury ObserverColumn By John Murray
How much abuse can Janice and Bill Smolinski take?The Waterbury Police Department failed them, the political process is messing with their heads, and now they find themselves trapped in a lawsuit filed by their son’s ex-girlfriend that amounts to legalized extortion. This extraordinary story began three years ago when Janice and Bill’s 31-year-old son disappeared in Waterbury. The Smolinskis were unable to get local authorities to treat the situation seriously, and their own efforts to find Billy have been thwarted by sloppy police work, bungled science, and a national missing person network with holes large enough for a herd of elephants to stampede through.Everywhere they turned for help they crashed into a wall of incompetence. Their faith in the system is shattered.“ Everything that could go wrong in this case has gone wrong,” Janice Smolinski said. “Everything.”..........