Saturday, January 19, 2008

ned lamont and benazir bhutto


i thought this was interesting. ned knew benazir from harvard and received a card (in the mail) from her after her death (of course it was mailed prior).



By CHRISTOPHER KEATING Capitol Bureau Chief

In the late 1980s, two college friends exchanged letters, congratulating each other on the political victories each had recently enjoyed.One had just been elected third selectman of Greenwich.The other had just been elected prime minister of Pakistan.

It was just a small event in the friendship of Democrat Ned Lamont and Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in Pakistan Dec. 27 as she attempted to regain power.About a week into the new year, Lamont received a late-arriving Christmas card from Bhutto, mailed days before she was killed, becoming the fourth member of her family to die as a result of political violence.The card read, "Praying for Peace in the World and Happiness for your Family in 2008."Lamont had not seen his old friend in four years — when they reminisced over lunch about their days together as undergraduates at Harvard, when she was known on campus as "Pinkie."..............
photo: EARLY THIS MONTH, about two weeks after his old college friend and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan, Ned Lamont received this Christmas card from her. Lamont made friends with Bhutto when both were undergraduates at Harvard. (MICHAEL MCANDREWS / January 17, 2008)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

for all connecticut teachers

and their students

Wednesday, January 16, 2008
URGENT MESSAGE FOR CT'S YOUNG WRITERS & THEIR TEACHERS
If this information could be shared with Connecticut teachers, it would be greatly appreciated.
DEADLINE FEBRUARY 1st! POSTMARK
The Connecticut State University System and IMPAC Control Systems Inc. present the annual Young Writers competition, for students ages 13-18 during the school year.Contestants are encouraged to submit any prose or poetry to IMPAC-CSUS Young Writers 2008. The young writers competition in Connecticut has given more than $150,000 to Connecticut's best young writers since 1998. About 4,000 young writers have participated in the program.Poets and writers in each of Connecticut's eight counties win $1,000 prizes annually, awarded during ceremonies at the four CSU System campuses. Public, private or home school teachers must sign the form and nominate the poets and writers. About a dozen finalists in prose and poetry from each county are invited to the regional ceremonies.
News Release At Governor Rell's Site
Link To Web Site With More Information:
Link To Entry Form:
Young Writer Melanie Lieberman, Rockville High, Talks With WTIC's Ray & DianeThank you very much!
via andy thibault at cool justice

is it just me?

shouldn't chris shays be MORE concerned with bringing our men and women home from afghanistan and iraq (at LEAST in ONE piece) and NOT so very worried about kazillionaires taking steroids? what the f**k is WRONG with that picture? our men and women are being severely wounded AND killed and our lawmakers are meeting over major league baseball (and now perhaps the effing rap industry). am i mad? YOU BET I'M MAD

hey chris shays WAKE THE HELL UP AND SAVE THE PEOPLE WHO REALLY NEED SAVING. at LEAST be concerned with RETURNING VETERANS WELFARE.

Risk Firing, Strike To Get Drugs Out, Shays Tells Selig
By DANIELLE SESSA And SCOTT SOSHNICK Bloomberg News
Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig must rid the sport of steroids even if it leads to his firing or provokes a players' strike, a Connecticut member of the congressional committee holding hearings on the issue said.U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4th District, also said Congress will step in if widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball continues.Shays is a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which next week will examine the findings from former Sen. George Mitchell's report on drugs in baseball that named more than 80 players, including seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens..........

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

both of THESE 'men' should be in a cage

for the rest of their lives. this is one of THE worst cases i have ever heard about.

Plainville animal cruelty
by News Channel 8's Annie Rourke
Plainville (WTNH) _ Two brothers are charged in a horrifying case of animal abuse. This comes after a pet pit bull bites a young boy's arm.
A very disturbing case in Plainville. Police say, a little boy was taken to the hospital after being bitten on the arm by his uncle's pit bull. But it didn't end there. Now, that boy's father is behind bars, while his uncle is facing charges. And, the dog has been put down.
No one is home at the Farmington Avenue house in Plainville where the brothers live. Severino Cruz, 32, and 27-year-old Enrique Cruz were both arrested. This comes after a horrific crime occurred Sunday afternoon. A three-year-old pit bull, kept in a cage in the basement, got loose and bit Severino's 8-year-old son Nick.
Police say the bite was no severe but enough for him to get checked out.
"The dog bit the son Nick," Captain Peter Costanzo of the Plainville Police Department said. "At which point, Enrique took Nick to the hospital for treatment."
When the father heard about the attack, he took matters into his own hands. "Severino came home at that point in time and in a fit of rage, took a power drill and drilled the dog's head several times," Costanzo said.
The dog, back in the cage at this time, had no way to get away.
"He held the dog by his collar with his chain and drilled the holes in the dog," Costanzo noted................

Monday, January 14, 2008

i had NO idea witch hazel was a connecticut commodity



my mother, when i was a girl, touted it's benefits. i've used it all of my life. as a matter of fact, for a couple of years i STOPPED using it. i had some peeling of my skin on the sides of my nose. no matter how much i sloughed that skin on a DAILY BASIS, it just kept on peeling. the ONLY thing that helped it (and i tried EVERYTHING including prescriptions) was WITCH HAZEL.

i don't have any stock in the company. i don't work for the company. i don't know anyone that works for the company (to the best of my knowledge that is). i am not affiliated with the company in ANY way. i'm telling you all right now, GO GET SOME WITCH HAZEL AND USE IT EVERY DAY


By Daniel D'Ambrosio

On a crisp, cold afternoon in early December, Russ Galas fired up his Stihl chainsaw and revved the engine to full throttle, undercutting a tenuously leaning snag before dropping it expertly to the forest floor in the 24,000-acre Pachaug State Forest in eastern Connecticut, the state's largest forest.
It was the kind of maneuver that could result in a nasty gash to a body part, or worse, for a less experienced hand. But Galas, 45, has spent many hours in the woods with a chainsaw over the past eight years, cutting witch hazel for his friend Mike Dzurnak.
Dzurnak, 52, whose father and grandfather both cut witch hazel in these woods before him, is one of about eight "brush cutters" in the state who harvest Connecticut's near-monopoly on the worldwide supply of this plant, prized for its qualities as a natural astringent. This year, Dzurnak will supply some 300 tons of chipped witch hazel to American Distilling & Mfg. Inc. in nearby East Hampton, cutting from November to March...........



flower picture: bbc.co.uk