noms............

if y'all are in the hood today (hartford), stop by the half door for their banging brunch. today it's cashew and berry stuffed toast of france. thick sliced white bread with a filling of homemade chunky style cashew butter, egg battered and griddled served with a three berry coulis and fresh strawberries, blueberries a...nd rasberries. erin will be your lovely bartender, brian will be your lovely manager, matt, maria, martin and louis will be your lovely cooks/chefs and the grrrrls, molly - amy - jess will be your lovely servers. (sorry for the crappy pic. but it looked WONDERFUL. unfortunately i couldn't eat it being vegan and all)

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to the family and friends of cpl. Xhacob LaTorre

my thoughts and prayers are with you. i am so very sorry for your loss. i thank cpl latorre and everyone else who is serving their country. their service is much appreciated



Waterbury Marine Dies Four Months After Bomb Blast

By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY

On Monday, in his Texas hospital room, the gravely ill Cpl. Xhacob LaTorre of Waterbury received a Purple Heart for the wounds he suffered in August from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, he died of his injuries.

The Marine leaves behind his wife, Frances, and a 1½-year-old son, Javier. A 2005 graduate of Crosby High School in Waterbury, LaTorre was in the ROTC program. He would have turned 21 Saturday.

LaTorre's legs were severely injured when an improvised, explosive device detonated in the Helmand province of Afghanistan on Aug. 10. The bomb instantly killed a fellow Marine who had been on foot patrol with LaTorre, said his aunt, Carmen LaSalle.

His legs had to be amputated, LaSalle said. LaTorre had made progress, though, and was talking and eating at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio within weeks of his injury, she said.

Then infection set in, and his condition worsened, LaSalle said. When he was conscious, he screamed in pain, she said..................

as always the courant has a link to the war dead from connecticut

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coyote on fern street in west hartford

on my way to work yesterday about 2:30 or 3:00 am, i saw a coyote on FERN STREET RIGHT NEAR MORLEY SCHOOL. really. so if you have a cat, i'd NOT let it stay outdoors overnight. REALLY

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i WAS gonna post this but forgot

until i just saw it in boing boing

plus this is WAY WAY WAY better than that woman who found a stupid arse egg with a 'cross' on it (it was just a wonky misshapen egg). this is a COW with a cross!!! (no, i don't think it's a divine symbol my peeps. i think it's a darn cute calf)


Calf with a cross on its head

David Pescovitz

Praise be, this holy calf was born a week ago on a Sterling, Connecticut farm owned by Brad Davis. From WFSB:

Davis said, "Well, I think it's maybe a message from up above. I'm not sure. We're still trying to figure that out."

Megan Johnson of Sterling said, "Well I wasn't surprised. I wasn't surprised at all because the dairy industry has needed a miracle for a long time and this is it. I think it's divine intervention, personally. I'm in the breeding business and I know about reproduction and genetics and I don't think this could happen again in a million cows."

"Cow Born With Divine Symbol" (via Fortean Times)

here's the wfsb link

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look at me, look at me, look at me

no one was paying attention to me for the last five minutes so i had to open my big ugly trap and start spewing garbage again

i never forgave da liebs for his running as an independent and stealing the vote (from a bunch of either stupid connecticuters or ignorant ones or just plain uninformed ones).

da liebs HAS to go. no forgiveness, boot his ass to the curb. he's playing with y'all right now BUT when you take his toys away, he's going to start crying like that baby he always turns into

Health Care: Lieberman Puts Himself In The Spotlight, Again
By LOIS ROMANO and ALEC MacGILLIS Washington Post

WASHINGTON - Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., has once again inserted himself into the middle of an inflamed partisan debate, raising questions about his motives, his ego and his fickle allegiance to the Democratic Party, which forgave him after he supported Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for president.

Lieberman says he is feeling "relevant" as he threatens to withhold his vote — potentially the decisive 60th — on health care reform legislation if it includes a government-run insurance plan. And it is hard to dispute Lieberman's assertion as Capitol Hill moves farther from the "public option," to the consternation of liberals.

"There is no question he's taken pleasure in this role," said Jacob Hacker, a Yale University political scientist who helped write the initial public option proposal..............

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if you're free 10 am thursday morning

or near a pc/laptop (it looks like it is going to stream live as well) why don't you listen to

Binnie Klein's WPKN Radio Show To Preview CT Young Writers Event

WPKN Newsletter December 7, 2009


89.5 FM Bridgeport,
New Haven — 88.7 FM Montauk,
Westerly, New London
— wpkn.org online

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Binnie Klein hosts a special show on boxing and writing. Guests include Andy Thibault, author, blogger, and teacher, John "Iceman" Scully, boxer, trainer, and ESPN commentator, Felicity Sheehy, student and prize-winning poet, Bruce Coffin, her teacher at Westover School, and Gaby Calvocoressi, acclaimed poet. We'll be discussing the upcoming CT Young Writers Triple Knockout Event: Prose, Poetry And Pugilism, Hartford Club, January 15 to benefit young writers.

Show Airs Thursday, December 10 at 10:00 AM.

Host Profile: Binnie Klein

WPKN Home Page

Prospect Magazine Features Poet Gaby Calvocoressi, CT Young Writers Triple Knockout Event Jan. 15, 2010 & Hartford Boxers Past & Present

the above from the cool justice report

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the bridge in west hartford

has been around forever (since 1969). if you CAN, help them out this holiday season (of course, you don't have to WAIT for the holidays to help them out you know)

they're quite a worthy AND more importantly TRUSTWORTHY organization

Bridge Family Center In West Hartford Seeks Aid

Needs Coats, Basketballs, Other Gifts For Youth

By KATE FARRISH Special To The Courant

WEST HARTFORD — - Because The Bridge Family Center in West Hartford serves 10,000 children, youth and families a year, it's understandable that its holiday wish list includes items that kids and teens love.

Executive director Margaret Hann says gift cards lead the list of donations that the agency is seeking this holiday season.

"Gift cards, those are huge," she said.

The list includes cards for Marshalls, Walmart, Kohl's, BJ's Wholesale Club, Best Buy, Bob's Stores, Target, Old Navy, A.J. Wright, TJ Maxx, Burlington Coat Factory, CVS, Showcase Cinemas, Bow-Tie Cinemas, nail salons, supermarkets and restaurants such as Chili's Grill & Bar, Ruby Tuesday, Olive Garden and Friendly's.

The agency is also seeking phone cards; new official-sized basketballs; new winter coats for teenagers; new raincoats for children aged 3 to 6; Sony PlayStation games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band; picture books for children from birth to age 8; stamps and stationery..........


the bridge family center

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welcome home jameson!

and of course, thank you for serving. now we just have to get the REST of our men and women back (WITHOUT wounds, mental or physical)

Marine Returns Home To Wallingford With Purple Heart

By STEVEN GOODE The Hartford Courant

WALLINGFORD — - They came from next door and they came from Maine. Some brought flags and others brought homemade chocolate chip cookies. But they all had a common purpose: Thanking Marine Cpl. Jameson Charest for his service to this country. Charest, 20, returned home to Wallingford Saturday evening to an enthusiastic, snow-covered crowd of friends, family and total strangers. "We have to let them know that their sacrifice has not gone without notice," said Chet Miller , a local U.S. Navy veteran who never met Charest, but came from his other home in Maine for the event. Charest, a 2007 graduate of Lyman Hall High School, enlisted on his 18th birthday. But he had been talking of joining the military since he was a young boy, his mother, Karen Charest, said. .................

pic: Marine Jameson Charest, who received a Purple Heart for injuries he sustained in Iraq while serving as commander of a mine roller, is welcomed home by throngs of flag-waving neighbors and friends outside his home in Wallingford. At right is friend Alyssa Funaro of Durham. (TIA ANN CHAPMAN / HARTFORD COURANT / December 5, 2009)

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litchfield, land of the free

costly and home of the brave rich effing snobs.

now i'm not one for using ribbons. i certainly support cures for cancer and aids and rights of people and our military. i just happen to not understand how a piece of fabric is going to bring our men and women home or find a cure for cancer. HOWEVER, the ribbons in general don't offend me. if it brings someone comfort to put a ribbon on their door or a TREE, even a tree on a town (or borough) green, well then, fine.

the town of litchfield famous for saying NO NO AND HELL NO to jews is now saying NO NO AND HELL NO to town residents who wish to put (for the sixth year in a row mind you) ribbons around trees on the town green

seems like the town outright lied whoops, i mean misspoke about a botanist saying the ribbons were causing trees to be damaged.

Borough Of Litchfield Board: Get Those Yellow Ribbons Off Our Town Green Trees

By RINKER BUCK |
ITCHFIELD — - For the past six years several military mothers here and their supporters have decorated the trees on the town green with yellow ribbons to express their support for local residents who serve in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But on Tuesday the Borough of Litchfield's governing body, the board of warden and burgesses, voted to prohibit expression that involves ribbons on trees, and that has thrown this attractive tourist mecca in Litchfield County into an uproar.

At its December meeting, the board said its ban was motivated by concerns about the health of the trees on the historic green, and the fear that other groups would demand the same right to hang ribbons. Ribbons would be banned on the green except for holiday purposes.
...

..............First, the board members said, Norfolk forester Starling Childs had inspected the trees on the green and concluded that the ribbons were hurting their health, encouraging the growth of fungus under the ribbons. Second, the presence of yellow ribbons on the green might encourage other groups to apply for permission to hang ribbons there.

Childs, who maintains the 6,000-acre Great Mountain Forest in Norfolk, is one of Connecticut's best-known tree experts. Reached on Friday, Childs said that he was asked by the Borough of Litchfield in October to conduct an inventory of its trees on the green as part of a plan for preserving the space. But Childs says that he was not asked to examine the question of the yellow ribbons and in fact did not even mention them in his report.

"They must be confusing me with some other botanist, because I don't remember even noticing the ribbons at all and I certainly didn't comment on them," says Childs............

pic LAURIE PARMENTIER, whose son Liam Dwyer served in Iraq as a Marine till 2007, stands with a yellow ribbon tied around a tree on the Litchfield Green. The boroughÂ’s board has voted to ban the ribbons, which have been on the trees for years. (MARK MIRKO/Hartford Courant / December 4, 2009)

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here's what aetna is up to

and believe me 600,000 is A LOT of people to drop coverage on. that is almost unheard of in the biz

my company had aetna coverage for YEARS and YEARS. next year we're going with another insurer. i'm not sure if it was MY company's decision or aetnas. i'm guessing it was my company and they did it because they found someone cheaper.

companies like mine will never have a problem insuring their employees. we have several thousand people. companies like mine make up 300,000 of the aetna dumps. the other 300,000 are smaller companies. now THEY WILL have a hard time. you get one employee with a significant health problem and that's all she wrote.

(and THAT'S EXACTLY WHY WE NEED HEALTH CARE REFORM by the way.)

Aetna Forcing 600,000-Plus To Lose Coverage In Effort To Raise Profits

Sam Stein

Health insurance giant Aetna is planning to force up to 650,000 clients to drop their coverage next year as it seeks to raise additional revenue to meet profit expectations.

In a third-quarter earnings conference call in late October, officials at Aetna announced that in an effort to improve on a less-than-anticipated profit margin in 2009, they would be raising prices on their consumers in 2010. The insurance giant predicted that the company would subsequently lose between 300,000 and 350,000 members next year from its national account as well as another 300,000 from smaller group accounts............

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just saw some pics

of snow in huston today. well it was in the 50s in the greater hartford connecticut area today. hmmmmmm what's wrong with that picture ON DECEMBER 4TH?

i'm still in a total state of disbelief and shock

oh i knew this happened (and i'm guessing is STILL happening). i am sickened by the ATTITUDES of some. molesting children is ok UNTIL someone makes a big ol' stink out of it. molesting children is ok because it's ONLY SPORADIC. molesting children is ok because we have to worry about keeping the faggots out of the church instead. yeah, that's how THIS evil monster felt i'm here to tell you (and if you need telling YOU'RE an evil monster too). i am only sorry there is no hell because if there was egan would burn in it for eternity.


MOLESTING CHILDREN IS NOT ALL RIGHT IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, UNDER ANY CONDITION. i know this for a fact. i know it because it is and always will be with ME. you can't "cure" it. oh i don't believe you can at all. so catholic church while you worry about not giving communion to a kennedy (just because he happens to support a woman's right to choose) and you're worried about keeping gay priests out, you let our children be marred for life because f**king a kid isn't any big deal, but a man f**king another man is. yup, there's nothing wrong with that thought process at all

note: the courant has extensive coverage of this. timelines and pictures and transcripts too. really DO click on the article link below

pic: New York Cardinal Edward M. Egan, while serving as bishop of the Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocese from 1988 to 2000, allowed several priests facing multiple accusations of sexual abuse to continue working for years. (SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES / June 16, 2005)

Documents Shed Light On Church's Treatment Of Allegations Against Priests

By DAVE ALTIMARI, EDMUND H. MAHONY, MATTHEW KAUFFMAN and ALAINE GRIFFIN

Even as a young seminary student, Raymond Pcolka's psychiatric problems caused doctors to question whether he should be a priest. Early in his studies, seminary officials sent Pcolka home for a year to "recover control of his nerves." But after returning to school, a Bridgeport psychiatrist deemed Pcolka to be suffering an "obsessive compulsive type neurosis." Another doctor diagnosed a neurotic reaction and "adjustment problems of late adolescence." Still another recommended further psychiatric examination for the "uncommunicative" Pcolka. >> Transcript of Oct. 7, 1997 Videotaped Deposition of Bishop Edward Egan >> Transcript of Sept. 23, 1999 Videotaped Deposition of Bishop Edward Egan "If there is any question of this man's stability or ability," one doctor wrote, "I would recommend psychological testing before final vows." Despite his odd behavior, Pcolka was ordained in 1965 by then-Bridgeport Bishop Walter Curtis and assigned to St. Benedict's Parish in Stamford. Within months, he allegedly fondled an altar boy at the church...............
and this is the MOST shocking right here:

.............Over the course of five depositions, which were among the documents released Tuesday, Curtis testified that he kept "secret archives" from whichhe regularly purged "antiquated" complaints of sexual abuse. Curtis also said he viewed pedophilia as "an occasional thing" and not a serious psychological problem, and indicated that he was more concerned with weeding out potential gays among clergy applicants. In one deposition, Curtis claimed that there had been no complaints of children being sexually abused by a priest between 1961 and 1988 — even though multiple complaints had been filed. Although a dozen people eventually said they were abused by Pcolka, Curtis testified that he didn't remember any complaints against the priest, while Egan admitted that he dismissed many of the claims, simply saying in a deposition, "The 12 have never been proved to be telling the truth."...........

............."These things [sexual abuse complaints] happen in such small numbers. It's marvelous when you think of the hundreds and hundreds of priests and how very few have ever been accused, and how very few have even come close to having anyone prove anything," Egan said in a deposition.............

here's some nyt coverage as well:

In Egan’s Depositions, a New View of a Sex Scandal

By PAUL VITELLO

.................

Then the lawyer sprang his big question: You could have prevented someone from hurting people and you decided not to. Why?

The witness was Edward M. Egan, then the Roman Catholic bishop of Bridgeport, Conn. The question was about a priest who had been accused of sexually molesting children.

“I didn’t make a decision one way or the other,” said Bishop Egan, whom the lawyer suggested had failed to act quickly against the cleric. “I kept working on it until I resolved the decision.”

The exchange is one of hundreds recorded in a vast trove of documents the Diocese of Bridgeport made public on Tuesday after battling in court for seven years to keep them sealed. The archive — more than 12,000 pages of memos, church records and testimony — was gathered for 23 lawsuits, alleging sexual abuse of children by seven priests, that the diocese settled in 2002.............

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shocking, shocking!!!

food carts (even from 'established restaurants') in OUR west hartford? oh hell, what is this, HARTFORD? in all seriousness, i really AM surprised about this. i know some of the 'rules' one has to adhere to when one has a restaurant in west hartford (some are incrediblly SILLY and/or STUPID) mmmmmmmmmm i could dig a falafel right about now.
Special Permit Would Allow Restaurants To Use Food Carts Outside In West Hartford
By BILL LEUKHARDT

WEST HARTFORD — - Next summer, folks should be able to buy takeout gelato or other food from local restaurants if a proposal to allow sidewalk sales of food by established restaurants wins town approval. The proposal, sparked by a request earlier this year from several business owners, would allow a small number of already licensed restaurants to sell food from their restaurants in sidewalk carts in front of their addresses. The plan is still being refined. It seeks to amend zoning rules to create strict, first-ever regulations for food carts. Restaurants seeking a food cart would first need to apply to the town for a special use permit and attend a hearing before getting permission. "We're trying to avoid a Bushnell Park situation," Town Manager Ronald Van Winkle said Monday, referring to the numerous outdoor food vendors whose trucks and carts lined the street weekdays, catering to hungry pedestrians in a restaurant-poor stretch of Hartford.........
(in other words, we're trying to avoid ETHNIC foods or foods OF COLOR. well, that's MY interpretation at any rate)

pic from here

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even peeps from other states

know what a GIANT asswipe da liebs is

dependable renegade sure knows:


Joe Lieberman: Still a fucking tool,


.........

now with an extra serving of tool-ness:

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) raised hackles among liberals earlier this week when he claimed that the public option wasn't a part of the 2008 presidential campaign. He repeated that claim to reporters tonight, though acknowledged, when pressed, that then-candidate Barack Obama did in fact include a public option in his campaign health care proposal.

And then there's this:

Anyway, I'm opposed to it."............

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it's more than 6% that's for sure

no survey, no study, nothing could ever prove it. 90% of women abused by their partners (and men abused by THEIR partners...but women are more likely to be the ones abused) will never in a million years admit the abuse. i have seen abused women. i have heard every excuse in the book. i have done what i could to make them know they are not alone, make them know there is help (but THEY have to work very hard as well) and to make them know it's NOT their fault.

sometimes my talks have paid off and the women have gotten out, sometimes i see the women crawl right back into the beds of their abusers

it crosses color lines. it crosses classes. it crosses ethnicities. it crosses religions. it just is. it's everywhere. we must all work to stop it. the first step is getting rid of the stigma. to treat women as equal citizens. to not sweep domestic violence under the rug. to NOT hold the victim to blame.

from this article it sure does seem like the library wanted to hide ms gillies away from the public AND from her coworkers. sure seems like they didn't want to help her

Fired Worker's Lawsuit Puts Spotlight On Workplace Treatment Of Domestic Violence Victims

By ALAINE GRIFFIN

Heather Gillies won praise for her work as a children's librarian at the Stonington Free Library. She was dedicated to the job, so much so that she performed a story-time program for children shortly after being beaten, allegedly by her husband.

But commitment to her job meant nothing to her bosses after they learned she was a battered wife, Gillies says in a recently filed lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses the library of wrongful discharge, firing Gillies in part because she was a victim of domestic violence.

Not so, says the library, which is denying Gillies' charges in a 27-page answer to her complaint. The library says it accommodated Gillies when she needed time off and supported her when employees there learned about the abuse.

The legal battle, brewing in Superior Court in New London, has captured the attention of advocates against domestic violence, who are crediting Gillies with shining light on what they say is the often overlooked issue of how the workplace deals with employees struggling with family violence.

Too often, advocates say, victims may not get the help they need because of fear that doing so may cost them their jobs.................

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one extra extra extra lucky dude

i read the headline and i winced

Chainsaw Falls On Man's Face, Causing Minor Injury

must have been the mutha

of ALL bulges is what i'm thinkin'

Man With Bulge Had Drugs, Hartford Police Say




...................Francisco Rodriguez was carrying 3,303 bags of heroin — which accounted for the "unusually large bundle protruding from his stomach area," Sgt. Christene Mertes said.............

pic: is actually heroin seized in hartford but NOT from this bust

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ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: i live in connecticut

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: i live in connecticut

un effing believable

this is beyond the pale. after canceling their insurance, then reinstating it RIGHT AFTER A HORRIFIC ACCIDENT THAT KILLED AND INJURED MANY the creatures responsible for that accident (due to negligent truck maintenance and goddess only knows what else) CAN SUE THE INSURANCE COMPANY FOR NOT PAYING?

no

what the hell is wrong with our system that this can happen?

WHAT?

it's an ap article so i can't print anything from it at all. just click the link though for the whole disgusting story

Conn. court: Truck owners in fatal crash can sue

you can also check out my friend mark robinson's (who was IN the accident) website and book,

smoke fire and angels . unlike the wilcoxs, mark is DONATING ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE BOOK TO A FUND FOR THE VICTIMS most in need.

please also note, i've read the book and it's not only beautifully and compassionately written but VERY well researched. BUY A COPY

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unbelievable

six months to report a very serious data breach. as i said, unbelievable.

i know i've talked about it before, but i'm going to do it again. we have to encrypt everything with a social security # on it (well ANY personal data) if it's going outside. we CANNOT use flash drives AT ALL (we used to be able to but no longer). we have a data depersonalization program which is constantly evolving. we have a social security remediation project (which i'm personally working on). there is not a doubt in my mind, if some of my company's data was breached it would be reported immediately. (i personally think a LOT of the rules we have are unnecessary but no one asked me. rules like our desks, our cabinets have to be locked when we leave or are even away from our desks for over an hour. we have a secure building. cameras everywhere. security guards. key cards to get in. )

no excuse for health net to wait six months

Vast Data Breach Of Health Net Information Includes Patients' Records

By MATTHEW STURDEVANT The Hartford Courant
A hard drive with personal, financial and health information for about 446,000 Health Net customers in Connecticut was lost six months ago and first reported today, state officials said.

The company informed the Attorney General's office and the state Insurance Department Wednesday of the security breach. A portable, external hard drive with Social Security numbers, bank account details and health information for patients "disappeared" from the insurer's Northeast headquarters in Shelton.

The Data, with wide-ranging information from members and providers dating to 2002, was compressed, but not encrypted. The information requires a specialized computer program to be read, according to the Attorney General's office.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and Insurance Commissioner Thomas Sullivan both said separately that they are investigating what happened, and why the company waited six months to report the incident..................

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tom condon wrote one hell of a column in

the courant the other day. please read it:


you know i've written about my friend mark robinson many times. i've written about avon mountain many times. i've written about mark's book, smoke, fire and angels many times.

please buy the book. PLEASE. it's so very well written and researched. please buy the book - the proceeds are going into a fund for the victims (and families)

Avon Mountain: The Road To Disaster

Survivor Of Horrific 2005 Crash Reconstructs Tragedy, Aftermath

Tom Condon

On the sunny, pleasant morning of July 29, 2005, Mark Robinson was stopped at a light in Avon on his way to work. He was making a mental list of what he had to do that day. And then — obliteration.

He regained consciousness at Hartford Hospital, with just a vague, hazy sense that something really bad had happened to him. And indeed it had.

Robinson was one of the survivors of the horrific Avon Mountain crash, where a fully loaded, poorly maintained, out-of-control dump truck weighing 70,000 pounds came barreling down the steep grade on Route 44 on the west side of the mountain at 80 mph and plowed into the traffic waiting for the green light in the eastbound lanes. Five people were killed and many were injured. Robinson suffered nine broken bones and a punctured lung.

Yet, by unfathomable fate, he lived. And like Melville's Ishmael, he had to tell the tale.

Robinson, director of internal communications for ING in Windsor, has written a book titled "Smoke, Fire and Angels — Tragedy on Avon Mountain and the Life-Changing Aftermath." He is a clear and competent writer with a good eye for detail. He's written a good book (and is donating all the proceeds to the families most in need after the crash)..........

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i got more info on the column

i first wrote about here

i got the name of the creature who wrote the column in question. you know the one that says women are full of diseases. fuck them (but be protected), humiliate them, then tell all your buds the funny tales! (yeah, humor my big fat ass).
his name? C H R I S S U R E T T E. remember it. use it often. do you know chris' mother? if so, tell her what her son wrote. does chris have sisters or aunts or grandmothers? if so, tell them what chris wrote. tell them just how funny he is. and chris, take off that cap. you DO NOT DESERVE to be wearing it

Chris Surette: Worst Person in the World?"

by Jill

This may take the cake for the worst college newspaper column of all time — and that is an extremely high (or low?) bar (trigger warning on that link, and on the rest of this post).

Chris Surette is a student at Fairfield University. Chris Surette* has written what a column so bad that Fairfield University has charged the newspaper with harassment and threatened to pull their funding. The Connecticut Post characterizes the column thusly:

The controversy erupted over a satirical column in the Sept. 30 edition of The Mirror that poked fun at female students who agree to one-night stands. The “He Said” column described a female’s “walk of shame” leaving a male’s dorm, and used words like “pounding” and “hood rat” to talk guys through the morning after consensual sex.

Except Chris Surette’s column is actually worse than that — it’s basically a pro-rape manual. The point of Chris Surette’s column is that men bond over sexually humiliating women, and it’s a “victory” when everyone else sees your “victim” doing the walk of shame back to her dorm................

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if you're in the new haven area

please stop by the exhibit.

it is usually men who start the wars. it is ALWAYS women and children who suffer the most


Yale photo exhibit reveals horrors of Congo conflict
By Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor

NEW HAVEN — The young woman, barely out of her teens, sits on her bed with her two young children and peers out a window.

Surrounded by a diaphanous curtain of mosquito netting, the image could be an artistic reflection of a home scene.

Life for the three, however, has been anything but normal. Sophie, 20, was kidnapped and held for almost three years in the Congo bush. Raped repeatedly, she had one child in the forest and was pregnant again when she escaped.

The 7-by-10-foot color portrait, printed on fabric and photographed by photojournalist and MacArthur “genius grant” fellow Lynsey Addario, is one of 38 stunning photographs of on-going violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the particularly lethal consequences for women and children.

The exhibition, “Congo/Women Portraits of War: The Democratic Republic of the Congo,” is on display through Thursday at the Thomas E. Golden Jr. Center at Yale University and is part of several events, including a lecture series, staged to turn world attention to a war that has left 5 million dead since 1998, the victims of violence and disease.........

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no, i don't like censorship

UPDATE FROM 11/15/2009: here

and i'm not a prude and i have a good sense of humor but NONE of what i am reading about this so called 'satirical' column appeared to be very funny to me

however, i have no idea how someone can say it was harassment. i don't think it is at all. i think it's hurtful and stupid and evil. i think whoever wrote it is an ass. it's NOT funny when women are portrayed as 'hood rats', whores and full of diseases. i think the staff of the paper should have declined to publish the column because it was in bad taste. to me that's not the same as censorship. that's EDITORIAL DECISION

first we have all that shite at the central connecticut state paper (you know how it's fun to rape women then the comic where a young latina was pissed upon. yeah, real funny)

i get frightened sometime. i thought we were raising our children these days to RESPECT WOMEN.

i guess i thought wrong

fuck that. it's not funny to rape women. it's not funny to tie women up put them in a closet and piss on them. it's not funny to write a column about fucking every skanky woman in sight and brag about it to your friends and humiliate the women. it's NOT FUNNY

but no one at fairfield university seems to care about that. what i'm getting out of this story is they are ONLY worried about the paper's funding

it's an ap article so i can't print any part of it. you sure can click on the link below and read it for yourselves

Conn. student newspaper faces harassment claims

ah, never mind. i found a NON AP article!

Fairfield U. newspaper faces discipline over column’s ‘harassment’
By Linda Conner Lambeck / Connecticut Post, Bridgeport (MCT)

FAIRFIELD -- Three months after The Fairfield Mirror newspaper ran a column that some Fairfield University students found highly offensive, the independent student publication faces harassment charges before the school’s Student Conduct Board.

It’s the first time the campus harassment policy has been directed at a student organization rather than an individual, said Fairfield U. Dean of Students Thomas Pellegrino. Pellegrino also told the Mirror staff that they violated the ethical and procedural guidelines of the newspaper’s funding agreement, making it "null and void."

However, the lights are still on in the student newspaper’s Campus Center office and bills are still being paid. Pellegrino insists his intention is not to take control of the paper or subject it to pre-publication censorship. He was unwilling, however, to say what penalty The Mirror could face at the hands of the conduct board or if he is satisfied with revised policy standards recommended to him Monday by student editors of the paper.................

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i didn't watch oprah, nor am i going to

i don't LIKE oprah at all. but that's neither here nor there. i don't know if i would be able to handle actually hearing charla nash tell her story. so i didn't watch and no, i didn't click any links to see any pictures either (and i won't). i just think ms nash is one hell of a brave and courageous woman.

i just can't imagine. i just can't imagine

oh and p.s. WILD ANIMALS SHOULD NOT BE LIVING IN YOUR BATHTUB, IN YOUR LIVING ROOM, OR IN YOUR BACK YARD. i've felt this way all along. it's not fair to the animal AND they are indeed WILD no matter how tame you think they are.

Chimp Victim Speaks To Oprah

By ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER The Hartford Courant

The Stamford woman injured in a chimpanzee attack showed her face on national television today, speaking with Oprah Winfrey in her first interview since the attack.

Charla Nash, 56, lost both hands, her vision, nose, lips and eyelids in the attack. Much of her scalp is also missing, a piece of her leg was grafted to create a nose, and she has a hole in her face through which she can eat and drink from a straw. Doctors were able to reattach one of her thumbs.

She wears a hat with a veil hanging from it that covers her face to avoid scaring people, she told Winfrey.

>> Click here to view ABC News' pictures of Charla Nash from her interview with Oprah Winfrey. WARNING: these images contain graphic content.

Tabloids have been vying for a picture of her, and a guard stands posted outside Nash's room at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio to protect her from photographs, Winfrey said. Winfrey said Nash decided to reveal her face on the show because she wanted to do it in her own terms. And in the interview with Winfrey, which was taped Tuesday, Nash said she was not concerned with how people would see her.................

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a felony charge reduced to a misdemeanor

a women pleads GUILTY to BEATING HER DAUGHTERS (for a lesser charge of course). the abuse, goddess knows, was going on for how long? perhaps since they were in elementary school? it appears they are in high school now (or at least 2 of them are) because the article mentions a conard resource officer.

so, the woman, sandra cedeno, gets a REDUCED SENTENCE (meaning NO jail time). i have no idea how long her kids were taken away for (IF AT ALL), but obviously the kids were placed BACK IN THE HOME.

what happens then you wonder (well i know you're NOT wondering. i KNOW YOU KNOW what happens next)

good ol' sandra starts (allegedly, although this article said she again admitted to it. BUT she's not been proven guilty so i have to say allegedly) BEATING THE GIRLS AGAIN WITH A METAL BROOM HANDLE. she must have (allegedly) beaten them hard because the handle when found by the police was all bent up.

i wonder if the kids have been taken away (if good ol' sandra is out on bail)? if yes, how long is it going to be before our good ol' dcf GIVES THEM BACK TO THE ABUSER (she is an abuser as she has pled guilty at least once before)

West Hartford Woman Charged Again With Assaulting Daughters
By DAVID OWENS The Hartford Courant

WEST HARTFORD - A local woman on probation for assaulting her daughters has been arrested again for assaulting the girls, police said.

Sandra Cedeno, 31, of South Quaker Lane, is charged with two counts of second-degree assault and two counts of risk of injury to a minor for allegedly beating her daughters with a metal broom handle. She was arrested Nov. 2 and posted $5,000 bail.

According to the warrant for her arrest, the social worker at Conard High School contacted the state Department of Children and Families to report the girls were being abused by their mother. A DCF investigator interviewed the girls, who said their mother had struck them in the head, back and arms with the metal broom handle for violating house rules.

One daughter was struck, she told the investigator, because she took food to her bedroom. The other was struck because her mother found that she had chewing gum, which could damage her braces.

After the DCF official substantiated the abuse, Conard's social worker contacted Officer Arthur Yepes, who is the school resource officer at Conard. Yepes wrote in the application for an arrest warrant that he could see bruises on each girl. One had bruises on her left shoulder, face and left hand. The other had bruises on her right arm and hand.
..................

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we can ALL rest easy now

the cheese bandit has been apprehended (with FOUR blocks of evidence!)

Cops: Cheese Thief Tried To Stab Store Manager With Steak Knife

Jenna Carlesso
.................Before fleeing the store, Ash threatened to assault the manager the next time he came back in, Mertes said. He took off toward Capitol Avenue.

Officers tracked him down in front of 801 Capitol Ave. They found the knife and four blocks of Colby Jack cheese in his left pocket, each valued at $3.49, Mertes said..............

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as i've mentioned before, my pops lives in the asylum avenue hood

i travel the road daily as do hundreds if not thousands of others. i've ranted and railed about the traffic islands. they're dangerous and unnecessary and cost the fair citizens of west hartfordmucho bucks. i didn't see the accident. i saw the aftermath, i witnessed the ambulances and police cars and other emergency vehicles attempting to traverse down asylum. it was clogged with traffic as it is EVERY day in the morning rush and evening rush. one lane each way. the ambulances were driving on the wrong side of the road because they couldn't get through on the (correct) right side. those islands. now, i don't know if they had anything to do with the horrific accident and death of robert j. sivage. i don't know what happened at all. only that mr sivage was struck in the road, and later died. my thoughts and most sincere sympathy go out to his friends and family. he was far from home too.

the construction on asylum continues. there are many police officers now. cars with flashing lights at either end of the construction zone. there is also an orange vested worker whose sole job (as it appears to me) is to stand there and hold a sign saying 'slow'.

this SHOULD have happened from the get go. the street is horrid and as i said quite dangerous NOW THAT THE NEW SAFETY TRAFFIC ISLANDS ARE HERE.

so if you're on asylum DRIVE SAFELY AND SLOWLY. i am going to be watching and i will either stop you myself or report you

i saw this sign and the flowers yesterday. i didn't know what it was all about. now i do

oh and a shout out to paul garavel. he did the RIGHT thing

Family, Strangers Pay Tribute To Man Fatally Injured By SUV

By DAVID OWENS
WEST HARTFORD — - As police continue their investigation into the accident that claimed the life of a construction worker on Asylum Avenue, a reminder of the life lost sits on a lawn near the spot where Robert J. Sivage was fatally injured.

There's a small bench, six pots of mums and a photograph of Sivage, the construction worker from Austin, Texas, who died after being struck by an SUV just as he and his co-workers were getting ready to leave the work site.

His family gathered at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center to be with him when life support was withdrawn on Oct. 28, the day after the accident. Sivage's heart, lungs and kidneys were harvested to give life to three other people.

Later, Sivage's family gathered near where he was injured to remember him and to erect a small memorial.

Paul Garavel saw the family and wanted to talk to them. He'd heard the accident — a sickening thump, but no sounds of hard braking or a skid — then looked out his kitchen window. "I saw that poor guy lying there," Garavel recalled.

"They had it across the street, over there on the tree, just some balloons and flowers," Garavel said. "Don't leave it over there," he told them. "Put it on my front lawn. It will be more prominent and I'll take care of it."...........

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i would welcome ned lamont

as the governor of our fair state of connecticut. if he decides to run, as of right now, he has my support. JODI MUST GO

plus ned beat da liebs fair and square

Democrat Ned Lamont Exploring A Run For Governor; Shakes Up Democratic Field Vs. Gov. M. Jodi Rell
By

Christopher Keating

In a move that sharply changes the dynamics of the governor's race, Greenwich entrepreneur Ned Lamont announced Wednesday that he is opening an exploratory committee for governor.

Lamont, who spent about $16 million of his own money to run for the U.S. Senate against Joseph I. Lieberman in 2006, would clearly be the wealthiest candidate in the race. The other Democrats have started down the path of seeking public financing and would be limited to $1 million in public funds for an August 2010 primary. The winner of a potential six-way primary would then receive $3 million in public money for the general election.

If Lamont spent only half of what he spent in 2006, he would clearly outspend all other candidates in the race.

Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell has not made any formal announcements, but she has formed an exploratory committee that is raising small amounts of money under the public-financing guidelines. With far higher name recognition than the pre-Lamont Democratic candidates, Rell has had the luxury of delaying any official announcements. Her supporters concede that her name recognition has given her a multi-million-dollar advantage over the Democrats who have been in the race so far.................

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