there's a pet adoption through sunday

at the ct expo center in hartford

go check it OUT

By

Bonnie Phillips
Look at that face -- isn't it adorable?
That's Gus, and he's my rescue dog.

pic from the link above

ALPHAVILLE reminds us what

the 14th amendment says

this isn't a woman's issue

it's a HUMAN issue. if this is true, if she was fired for being ill (and/or carrying the breast cancer gene) then i'm sure men could be fired just as easily for carrying a let's say, prostate cancer gene (although i don't know if that exists yet)

because the bishops corner office

isn't crowded ENOUGH (that's sarcasm in case you didn't know). i'll just stop in the windsor or bloomfield offices instead.

LaSalle Road Post Office Branch Likely To Close
By BILL LEUKHARDT

WEST HARTFORD —

The LaSalle Road post office branch, the town center's spot for stamps, mail and conversation since 1952, likely will close this year, to be replaced by a smaller storefront facility elsewhere downtown.

The U.S. Postal Service is planning to sell its 0.79-acre parcel at 102 LaSalle Road, town officials said Monday. It is one of three branches that the USPS has in town.

Town Manager Ronald Van Winkle said the property to be sold is a rarity — developable land in the town center. Very few properties in the center ever come up for sale, he said. The parcel is assessed by the town at nearly $1 million, but likely would be sold for more.

The brick post office, built in 1952 and altered several times since, covers about a third of the property.
.............

this is a start.......

All Three Domestic Violence Bills Pass The House
By

Amanda Falcone

Members from both sides of the aisle came together Tuesday to combat domestic violence.

The House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill that would establish a pilot program for the electronic monitoring of domestic violence offenders. It also unanimously voted in favor of a bill that would make sure school personnel learn about teen dating and domestic violence as part of their in-service training, and it approved, 125-19, a bill that would ensure that money promised to domestic violence victims' shelters and rape crisis centers is distributed promptly.

The bills are a direct result of a bipartisan task force formed last fall by House Speaker Christopher Donovan, D-Meriden. After several domestic violence-related deaths in Connecticut, Donovan asked lawmakers to come up with ways that the state can improve its response to domestic violence incidents.

The domestic violence bill that has received the most attention deals with the judicial system......

west hartford tax rates GOING UP AGAIN

the story makes it sound like they're (the town) doing us a favor because it COULD have gone up more. now, i distinctly remember years ago being told if we let them build black and blue square (and gave them OUR money to do so), our taxes WOULD GO DOWN. someone has some 'splainin' to do.....................

West Hartford Approves $216.7 Million Budget

By BILL LEUKHARDT The Hartford Courant

WEST HARTFORD

Last-minute adjustments to a proposed municipal budget totaled about $2.5 million in reductions, producing a $216.7 million budget that was passed Monday night by the town council.

The new budget will take effect July 1, unless a referendum is triggered by petitions. The budget requires a tax rate of 38.38 mills, a 2.24 percent increase.

The current tax rate is 37.54, which means that a taxpayer is charged $37.54 for every $1,000 of assessed taxable property. Prior to the final changes, the proposed 2010-11 budget was $219.1 million, which would have required a tax rate of 38.91 mills, a 3.7 percent increase.

The reduced budget is possible because of nearly two dozen adjustments to trim $922,000 from the general government budget for 2010-11 and $1.5 million in long-term debt. To make some of the adjustments, the town is using a portion of the money from its $4.5 million Blue Back Square settlement to pay for some items..........

the hartford courant

really HAS been doing a wonderful job of late, reporting on violence against women. i do have to salute them

this is one right on article by the way. i strongly urge you to click the link to read the WHOLE (it's short, just DO it) thing
note: in the right hand sidebar of the courant article there are all sorts of other links to similar stories you should read

Unmasking The Common College-Age Rapist
By JACLYN FRIEDMAN

I've been told it was my fault because I was drinking. Because I shouldn't have been hanging out with a group of guys who were drinking. I shouldn't have let him in. I must've been flirting. I must've been wearing something provocative. I obviously wanted it at the time and just changed my mind later.

Say whatever you want. It doesn't hurt me anymore. It used to, but now I understand. You want to feel safe. You want to feel like rape is avoidable and rare and only happens to foolish girls who don't follow the rules. Not to you, or to your daughter, or anyone you love. You want to believe that only monsters commit "real" rape, terrifying men who look nothing like you or your friends. You want to think that when nice-seeming boys get accused of rape, they were provoked, or are victims themselves of some kind of sexual misunderstanding. You want to feel in control. Who doesn't?

There's just one problem: Every time we spend our energy telling a girl not to have a beer or look at a guy in public lest she somehow "invites" him to commit a violent felony against her, every time we imagine rapists as hulking strangers in the bushes and not the charming guy down the street, we create the exact diversion rapists count on to keep raping with impunity............

counter quo

my new ink

s
e
o

as you may or may not know, when i got my knitting fairy tattoo, her shoes just would NOT heal. i eventually went to the doctor and he ended up having to make her shoe-less (check out her feet in the top picture). the fact i had just been tattooed was coincidental. it had NOTHING to do with the skin cancer. so it's been about a year and i got the go ahead from my doc to get her touched up. i made an appointment with pat macdonald (who did the original knitting fairy) and i told him i'd also like some stars around my lower arm (eventually the arm will be a sleeve). i'm not linking to pat's shop because he's going to a new one on may 5th. i believe he said he's going to west springfield (i know he said it's by the big e fairgrounds). when i get his new info, i'll post it.

anyway.................here's my NEW arm (and yeah, the knitting fairy as you can see if you look closely, is still shoeless. pat won't do it for at least another year. he said the skin had to heal even more. the ink would just spread around too much now and it would be a hot mess. so, i will just have to wait.)

i'm so very happy. i LOVE my pentagram. i love my stars, they're all different and i love my moon. thanks pat!

well i guess we can thank the goddess

she actually wasn't driving.............. (think about it)

New Haven Police To Woman: 911 Isn't A Taxi Service

it's an ap article so i can't print any of it BUT, let's just say one fine citizen of our fair state, called 911 SIX TIMES to request a ride home to meriden from a new haven club.

hmmmmmmmmmm

west hartford peeps, get ready for

new recycling bins (and recycling every TWO weeks instead of every week). it's actually a GOOD idea i think


http://courant.com/community/west-hartford/hc-west-hartford-recycling-plas.artapr19,0,7939243.story">West Hartford Homes To Receive Bins For Single-Stream Recycling
By BILL LEUKHARDT The Hartford Courant

WEST HARTFORD —

New 95-gallon recycling barrels, — more than five times the capacity of the 18-gallon bins now in use — will be delivered to 22,000 residences in the next few weeks as the town prepares to go to single-stream recycling.

That means people can cram glass, paper, plastics, etc. into the new blue bin, without separating. By increasing recycling town-wide, it should save the town money by reducing the weight of trash tossed out for disposal.

"We estimate we might save as much as $100,000 in tipping fees," Town Manager Ron Van Winkle said Monday. Officials expect the amount of trash disposed for $63-a-ton to decrease and the amount of revenue-generating recyclables to increase.

The new system is scheduled to start June 7. The private contractor that collects residential trash has new vehicles with robotic arms to quickly pick up and empty the larger recycling containers.
.................

MORE stupid connecticut crimes and/or criminals

helpful hints

when the police show up at your residence, do NOT and i repeat, DO NOT

tell them you are going to kill your son (no matter HOW drunk you are)
lead them to your car where you have a rifle (no matter HOW drunk you are)
lead them to your handbag which is chuck full o' ammunition (no matter HOW drunk you are)
lead them to your stash of pot (no matter HOW drunk you are)

geeze

Mother And Son Arrested Hours Apart

By DAVID OWENS The Hartford Courant
A mother and her son will have adjoining cells in the Vernon police lockup this weekend after their arrests Friday night.

Manchester police had taken 19-year-old Cort Hancock to stay with his mother and step-father at the Howard Johnson motel on Route 30 about 5:20 p.m. Hancock had been tossed out of the Manchester homeless shelter because he'd been drinking and was causing a disturbance, police said.

When Hancock and the two Manchester officers arrived at the motel, they were greeted by Hancock's mother, Vicky Domingue, who police said was highly intoxicated herself. When the Manchester officers explained why they were dropping her son at her motel room, she said she was going to shoot her son and announced she was going to get her .22-caliber rifle.
......................

congratulations!!!!!!!

to my peeps at the half door, plan b and tisane winners of the 2010 hartford advocate's best of

Best Local Burgers

Plan B

Best Place To Buy Loose Tea

Tisane Euro-Asian Cafe

Best Tea House

Tisane Euro-Asian Cafe

Best Irish Restaurant

Half Door

Best Local Coffeehouse

Tisane Euro-Asian Cafe

Best Beer Selection In Bottles

Plan B

Best Pub

The Half Door

Best Bartender

Chris Vincent, Tisane Euro-Asian Cafe

Best Beer Selection On Tap

Plan B

Best Place For Martinis

Tisane Euro-Asian Cafe

all pics from the advocate except the irish nachos: (JOHN LONG, HARTFORD COURANT)

if you're afraid to go to chilis in GLASTONBURY

without packing heat, i would suggest you stay the fuck at home. is this a small penis thing (you know, like driving a hummer)?


it's obvious i don't like guns. in all seriousness i know it's not against the law to own one (gun laws aren't tough enough of course). why do you have to walk around with one strapped to your hip (or elsewhere)? pissing on your territory? this isn't the wild west. it's 2010 in connecticut. if you're that afraid, sit in your house in an old rocking chair in front of the door, with a pistol or rifle or whatever. don't walk the streets where children are, where the elderly are. where i am

really

i am so very sickened by this




Support Is Growing For Openly Carrying Permitted Weapons

By EDMUND H. MAHONY The Hartford Courant

An eruption in a simmering dispute over gun rights occurred when James Goldberg, wearing camouflage clothing and a holstered — and licensed — pistol on his right hip, walked into a Chili's restaurant in upscale Glastonbury, where he intended to pay for a takeout order.

According to Goldberg, a college-educated, occupational safety engineer, a restaurant employee, concerned by the sight of an armed customer, called the town police department. A goggle-eyed luncheon crowd watched three officers roll up, confront Goldberg and handcuff him.

"What can we get him for?" Goldberg, 32, says one of the officers asked his colleagues.

The answer, as it turned out, was nothing.

A state Superior Court judge dismissed the breach of peace charge police ultimately filed against Goldberg, forcing law enforcement experts to concede that, absent extenuating circumstances, there is nothing in Connecticut law to prohibit licensed gun owners from conducting their lives visibly armed.
.......................

holy (so to speak) shite!!! if i EVER went back to church

(don't worry, it's NOT likely) i know which one it would be


and it sure wouldn't be at any of the connecticut ones. (see a posting or two ago regarding the catholic church in connecticut)

Priest calls for pope's resignation

From Adam Reiss, CNN

East Longmeadow, Massachusetts (CNN) -- The phones are ringing off the hook at the parish of St. Michael's Church, where the Rev. James Scahill called in a sermon last weekend for the pope to resign over the church's sexual abuse scandal.

Pope Benedict XVI has found himself tied to the crisis after news broke last month that 30 years ago, when he was an archbishop, he approved accommodations in his diocese for a priest accused of child sex abuse so the priest could undergo therapy.

The priest, who was not identified, was let go from church service in 2008, according to church officials in Germany..............

if found guilty

he should be punished to the FULL extent of the law. he caused a woman to ALMOST be raped (allegedly, i HAVE to say that), not even mentioning what he (allegedly) did to the family whose house was listed in the ad

oh and don't comment on my blog if you're going to tell me what a nice guy he is (either the one who allegedly placed the ad or the one who allegedly assaulted the 18 year old) and how i don't know the whole story.

no, i don't know the whole story but i don't need to know the whole story. what i already know is too much.

Man Charged With Posting Fake Craigslist Soccer Mom Sex Ad

By DAVID OWENS The Hartford Courant

WEST HARTFORD

Police have charged an unemployed chef with posting a sexually oriented ad on Craigslist this week that said " West Hartford soccer mom ... looking for group sex."

A Newington man who responded to the ad is charged with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman who lives near the house listed in the ad.

Philip Conran, 42, turned himself in Friday morning to face charges that include second-degree harassment, second-degree breach of peace, second-degree reckless endangerment, criminal liability for fourth-degree sexual assault, criminal liability for first-degree trespass and criminal liability for disorderly conduct. Conran, accompanied by his attorney, posted $75,000 bail and is due in Superior Court in Hartford on April 22.

Conran, a neighbor of the house listed in the ad, is also under investigation for two other sexually oriented notices placed on the Internet and targeting the house.............

wtf????????????

i've done several postings about this subject on my main blog. this one i'll do here since it deals with THE GIANT THREAT TO THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES OF CONNECTICUT

again, WTF??????????

the bishop says the new law "would undermine the mission of the Catholic Church in Connecticut."
hey i have some questions,


1) if one isn't guilty, one has NOTHING to worry about, right?
2) what about the VICTIMS? they're worthless but your church isn't?
3) what about the pedophiles? what would you have us do with/to them? leave them be?


if you are catholic or if you're NOT catholic i too urge you to contact your representatives TODAY and DEMAND they pass this bill. there ARE victims and there ARE perps. the perps (catholic or not) MUST pay the piper

Hartford Archbishop Urges Parishes To Fight Legislation On Child Sex Abuse Cases

By ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER The Hartford Courant

A proposal to extend the civil statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases could have a "devastating financial effect" on the state's Catholic dioceses, Hartford Archbishop Henry J. Mansell wrote to pastors this week, urging them to include a letter opposing the bill in parish bulletins this weekend.

The letter says the bill, now pending in the legislature, would put "all Church institutions, including your parish, at risk," and warns that it could lead to bankruptcy, threaten the assets of parishes even without a history of abuse, and "would undermine the mission of the Catholic Church in Connecticut."

"The bottom line is that this is terrible public policy, discriminatory by its nature, and a huge threat to us all," says the letter, signed by Mansell, Bishop William E. Lori of the Bridgeport diocese, and Bishop Michael R. Cote of Norwich.

"We must stop this bill now," the letter says. The bishops ask parishioners to contact their representatives "TODAY!!!"............

i thought i was going to bust a gut

i read the original story (you know the one where the capital police gave permission TO THE TEABAGGERS TO FLY THEIR FLAG OVER THE CAPITAL) at work. i couldn't write about it as blogger (as well as pandora, facebook, youtube, radio station websites as in WWUH and the like) is blocked at work. oh i understand and can live with all of that EXCEPT the streaming music (pandora and stations like wwuh). that was blocked just recently and i'm pissed. BUT that is NOT what i'm pissed about right now. i'm pissed about this teabagger flag shite

as it turns out they gave them UNpermission to fly their flag over the capital so it WILL NOT happen. WHEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

i guess someone tread on 'em (even though they claim they'll do it anyway by bringing their own flagpole. that, i don't care about. as long as that symbol of teabaggery is NOT flown officially over our capital (i believe that flag is also used by the marines. THAT is different. i would not have an issue with it being used in relation to the marines)

'Don't Tread On Me' Flag Will Not Fly Over Capitol After All

By y DANIELA ALTIMARI The Hartford Courant

Tea Party activists won't be permitted to fly the Gadsden Flag over the state Capitol after all.

State Capitol police today reversed an earlier decision to allow the bright yellow "Don't Tread On Me" banner to flutter from the highly visible flagpole after learning that activists had planned a political rally following the flag-raising ceremony.

But Tea Party activists said today they plan to go ahead with the flag-raising – they plan to bring their own flagpole.

"It went from being a flag-raising ceremony to a political event,'' Acting Capitol police Chief Walter Lee said. "They are using it as a launching pad for [candidates for] public office."

Tea Party activists view the flag as a historic symbol of American defiance, but critics say the familiar flag with the image of a coiled rattlesnake is now associated with the controversial political movement........

this is pretty cool

i didn't know it existed. i just checked it out. i'm going to use that site often i'm sure

Farmers, Consumers Take Advantage of Online Farmers Market

By KATE ROY Special to The Courant

Just in time for the start of growing season, farmers and consumers on the hunt for fresh, local fruits, vegetables, eggs and other farm products have found each other on a new online match-making service. The Shared Harvest Connecticut website, launched in March, is a fast-growing virtual farmers market that is helping to build a bridge between farmers and consumers.

Shared Harvest Connecticut, found at www.sharedharvest.net/connecticut, is an offshoot of the Edibles Advocate Alliance, which offers small business consulting and support for grassroots, agricultural and socially innovative organizations.

"Our primary goal is to create and support sustainable food systems," says Emily Brooks, founder and CEO of the alliance. "We have to work with the consumer and provide education and opportunities to buy local food and support local agriculture. We also have to work with producers and farmers to get them set up to be the best business they can be.".............

90 something degrees on april 7th is NOT right

Record High Broken Today At Bradley

Garett Argianas And Sam Sampieri FOX CT

congratulations to uconn

where men are men and

WOMEN ARE CHAMPIONS!!!

UConn Caps Perfect Season With 7th Championship

UConn overcomes 12-point first half to squeeze past Stanford for second straight title

pic: he Huskies carry Geno Auriemma off the court in San Antonio after defeating Stanford to finish their second consecutive undefeated season. (Bettina Hansen / Hartford Courant)