Tag: Connecticut

2018 Primaries: 8/14/2018 Results

Four states, Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin, held primaries on Tuesday. Besides those primaries, we got a concession from one of the undecided elections from last week. Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer conceded the election to Trump backed State Attorney General Kris Kobach. Colyer conceded Tuesday night, hours after a tally of provisional ballots in Johnson …

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2018 Elections: Four State Primaries

Four states are holding primaries today: Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont and Wisconsin. Connecticut: Governor Danal Malloy (D) is retiring after two terms. The Republicans are looking for a win here due to Malloy’s unpopularity. There are five candidates for the nomination Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton; former Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst; Steve Obsitnik; Bob Stefanowski; and …

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Park City: Dodging Digital Pedestrians

Bridgeport PD eyes driving simulators

by Brian Lockhart, CT Post February 1, 2015



Police Chief Joseph Gaudett is hoping a roughly $125,000 investment in a driving simulator can reduce those costs and the risks the men and women under his command face when on the road.

“If it helps prevent one serious accident that injures an officer or member of the community, then it is money well spent,” Gaudett said.



The day after he mentioned the idea to council members earlier this month, the chief appeared in court. He is being sued by a Bridgeport couple who claim that in 2010 Gaudett crashed his city-owned Cadillac Escalade into their car while he was on his cellphone.


Worse and then Better(?) Again

So where are we?  Well, a few weeks ago, things were sort of looking up, but last week they seem to get into the well-known hand basket.

For instance, the Maryland House passed a bill disallowing many, but not all, forms of discrimination against people based on gender identity or expression.  It wasn’t unanimously applauded by the trans community since there were no protections in public accommodations, but there it was.

But only a week or so earlier, the Maryland House had tabled the marriage equality bill that had already passed the Senate, to someone in the Senate decided that the House need to be taught a lesson, so sent the gender identity/expression protection bill to the Senate Rules committee, expecting it to languish and die there.  After all, who do those House members think they are?  We’ll show them!  We’ll kick this transpeople right where it hurts.

Wasn’t that just very cool?

An Act concerning Discrimination: Action Needed Now

Tomorrow, the Connecticut Judiciary Committee will vote on HB 6599:  An Act Concerning Discrimination.  The act adds the words “gender identity or expression” to this list of traits which cannot be the legal basis of discrimination:  race, color, religious creed, age, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sex, mental retardation, mental disability or physical disability, including, but not limited to, blindness.  “Gender identity or expression” would come right after “sex”.

If you live in Connecticut and have a legislator on the Judiciary Committee, now is the time to call.

Arrrrrghhh !!!

As Lieberman deliberated, the new chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), told HuffPost that the party would consider supporting Lieberman if he returned to the fold.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

Joe Lieberman,Senator Joe Lieberman

Joe & George the President


The feeling of ill will is mutual: Lieberman said during the health care debate that one reason he opposed a Medicare buy-in compromise was that progressives were embracing it.

Joe Lieberman and John McCain

Joe & John the Presidential Candidate




March 20, 2003

” What we are doing here is not only in the interest of the safety of the American people. Believe me, Saddam Hussein would have used these weapons against us eventually or given them to terrorists who would have. But what we are doing here, in overthrowing Saddam and removing those weapons of mass destruction and taking them into our control, is good for the security of people all over the world, including the Iraqi people themselves.”

http://www.lobelog.com/lieberm…

John McCain Joe Lieberman,McCain,Lieberman

Joe and John in Iraq


September 29, 2011.    10 years and 18 days after 9-11 attacks on NYC



” It is time for us to take steps that make clear that if diplomatic and economic strategies continue to fail to change Iran’s nuclear policies, a military strike is not just a remote possibility in the abstract, but a real and credible alternative policy that we and our allies are ready to exercise.

It is time to retire our ambiguous mantra about all options remaining on the table. It is time for our message to our friends and enemies in the region to become clearer: namely, that we will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability — by peaceful means if we possibly can, but with military force if we absolutely must. A military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities entails risks and costs, but I am convinced that the risks and costs of allowing Iran to obtain a nuclear weapons capability are much greater.

Some have suggested that we should simply learn to live with a nuclear Iran and pledge to contain it. In my judgment, that would be a grave mistake. As one Arab leader I recently spoke with pointed out, how could anyone count on the United States to go to war to defend them against a nuclear-armed Iran, if we were unwilling to go to war to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran? Having tried and failed to stop Iran’s nuclear breakout, our country would be a poor position to contain its consequences.

I also believe it would be a failure of U.S. leadership if this situation reaches the point where the Israelis decide to attempt a unilateral strike on Iran. If military action must come, the United States is in the strongest position to confront Iran and manage the regional consequences. This is not a responsibility we should outsource. We can and should coordinate with our many allies who share our interest in stopping a nuclear Iran, but we cannot delegate our global responsibilities to them.”

http://www.lobelog.com/lieberm…

http://lieberman.senate.gov/in…

Ask them about the Minimum Wage; It’s the Least we can Do.

Raese says Minimum Wage is Unconstitutional

by Alison Knezevich, The Charleston Gazette — Oct 14, 2010

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Republican candidate for U.S. Senate John Raese doesn’t just want to abolish the minimum wage.  He also calls it possibly unconstitutional.

[…]

Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin’s campaign seized on Raese’s remarks as a sign that Raese, a multimillionaire, is out of touch with West Virginians.

[…]

West Virginia is one of the nation’s poorest and oldest states. Nearly 18 percent of West Virginians live in poverty, compared to 14 percent of Americans, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Rachel Maddow has some sage advice, on how to turn “out of touch” rhetoric like this, into Electoral Gold …

Climate: Graham’s Immigration Hissyfit Threatens Energy Bill, Kerry Delays Debut

Senator Lindsey Graham(R, SC) has dutifully assumed his cloak and dagger as the Village Villain du Jour, thrown a last minute hissyfit on the Saturday before Sen. John Kerry was to reveal the long anticipated Climate and Energy Bill on Monday, and is holding his breath and threatening to turn beet red unless the Senate ignores the immigration issue this year.   http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wi…

The support of Graham was sought because it was assumed that of Senators Ben Nelson(D, Mutual of Omaha) and Blanche Lincoln(D, Walmart of Bentonville) would not automatically be forthcoming, after their performances during the health insurance bailout bill which was passed earlier this spring.

Now Graham is petulant, on cue, after the Arizona state legislature went neo Nazi on the Hispanic and Latino voter demographic, and the Arizona governor signed the law yesterday mandating proof of residency be shown on demand to police.  Graham says his confidence is “destroyed” that the Senate would be able to multi task on 2 topics during the rest of the year.

Hurrah!

Bipartisan Joe Is Thankful



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An Independent Senator From a Northeast State Expresses Joy at the news that the Democratic President and Party is less Popular in the Polls Because The Independents Who Voted For Him….  Don’t Feel “Cared About.”

The Hill, April 14, 2010

Minutes 9 thru 11:15 on video

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-…


“There were a lot of people, particularly Democrats, who were declaring after the 2008 election that we were beginning a period of Democratic dominance that would go on for decades,” Lieberman said during an interview with the conservative Newsmax magazine.

“Now, all of a sudden, the momentum is with the Republicans. And that’s –  thank God –  that’s the way people have spoken, you know? That’s our democracy.”

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Q. The Obama administration is saying to the world, If you attack us with biological or chemical weapons, we will not attack you with nuclear weapons first if you don’t have them. What does that say to our enemies who might want to wipe us out ?


Appropriate ambiguity up to now….    We reserve the right to use nuclear weapons …. if the attack was bad enough.

I prefer that ambiguity.  I don’t support the change the Obama administration has made.  Like swiss cheese, full of holes.  There are plenty of reasons the US could find a reason to respond.

Bottom line,  I want any nation thinking of doing anything as extreme as to attack America  to fear we would respond with a nuclear attack.  I hope we never get to that point.  I want our enemies to be uncertain and afraid.  

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Q. Should President Obama have dropped the term “Islamic Extremism ?” What do you make of that ?

I don’t like that change.  I don’t understand it.  I think it’s fundamentally dishonest.  I don’t think it gains anything I think it loses us some support in the Muslim world.  The fact is, we’re not in a war with some nebulous group of violent extremists, ah

we not in a war with environmental extremists,  white supremist extremists,  we’re in a war with Violent Islamist Extremists and Terrorists.

the people who attacked us on 9 – 11 were not just violent and extreme,  they were motivated by an ideology of Islamic extremism,  which took the religion of Islam and essentially transformed it into a radical political ideology.

(video minute 4)

and if we don’t call it what it is, first up, we are violating the first rule of war for thousands of years:  Know Your Enemy.

Secondly, how do you defeat your enemy unless you describe what it is , and 3rd, in many ways it is an ideological conflict between one set of values and this violent Islamic extremist ideology.  Most people in the Muslim world reject this, but if we don’t say there’s a difference, between most Muslims in the world, and the violent Muslim extremists and terrorists,  we disrespect most Muslims, and I don’t think we gain any favors from that .  I think that our enemies …  must be laughing at the word game, and our friends can’t be encouraged by it.

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Time to use military force in Iran?


time to have plans ….. when we say it’s unacceptable for Iran to go nuclear.  

next step is tough sanctions… to hurt.   …. last chance before using force.  This is a turning point in history. If we allow Iran to go nuclear the world becomes unsafe for everybody ….  all the work, it’s over. The chance of peace between Israel and Palestinians is over.    

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Oh, and the former Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin?

You underestimate her at your peril, says the Independent Senator.


“Everybody should listen.”

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http://www.mercurynews.com/top…

4/13/2010  Contra Costa Times

Palin’s speaker’s contract found in dumpster with other shredded documents at Cal State, Senator Yee had sought them in public disclosure request


” In addition to the bendable straw and Learjet that Palin required, the contract also stipulated that she be picked up at the airport by SUV or black towncar; that her name be registered at (an upscale) hotel under an alias; that autographs not be allowed; that all photographs be taken by a professional photographer; and that personal cameras, cell-phone cameras and any other recording devices are to be turned off wherever she is.

…. A representative of WSB (Washington Speakers Bureau) or the Speaker”s party will open the water at an appropriate time….   ”

“It is truly shocking and a gross violation of the public trust that such documents would be thrown away and destroyed during a pending investigation.”

The students, Alicia Lewis and Ashli Briggs, submitted the documents to the attorney general”s office Tuesday to buttress an investigation already underway into whether Cal State Stanislaus violated the California Public Records Act.

“The linkage is absolutely intertwined,” he (Yee) said. “It”s like having a fundraising operation in my Capitol office.”

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Sarah Palin Raises Over 12 Million Dollars Over 9 Months Since Leaving Office Last July- Whoopie !  

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seat…   Seattle PI  4/13/2010


It was at the logging conference that Palin denounced as “a bunch of snake oil science” scientists’ studies linking climate change to emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. She also denounced California’s Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has taken efforts to curb emissions.

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“Since we all wear clothes …. and women wear most of them, I thought I could use my love of fine apparel to promote a fashion line which real Americans would find uplifting, something that would strengthen America’s foundations. ”  

– Sarah Palin, April 2010, source, Huffington Post  

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what the handlers must be thinking:

Thanks, Joe, for the referral !  Those kids didn’t need cheaper college tuition anyway.  

Fusion balloting: creating more and better choices for American voters

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is an article that was originally posted on my blog a few days ago. I’m posting it here at DD as a followup to my previous diary about the need for ballot access reform.

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A few days ago, I discussed the need for ballot access reform as a crucial first step in opening up the American political system and removing the shackles placed upon it by the Republican and Democratic parties. Today, I’d like to discuss another equally important element of political reform which I believe is a necessary co-requisite to ballot access liberalization: electoral fusion.

Fusion balloting, which is also referred to as cross-endorsement or open ballot voting, refers to the practice of allowing multiple political parties to nominate the same candidate for the same office. This cross-endorsement can open up several possibilities for minor parties operating within the constraints of a political system like ours here in America, in which two parties are dominant: these minor parties might, for example, choose to cross-endorse candidates nominated by one of the two major parties, or to cross-nominate each other’s candidates, or to run their own candidates without any cross-endorsements, depending on what their political and strategic priorities are. At present, fusion balloting doesn’t affect most voters because it’s only allowed in eight states: Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Mississippi, New York, Oregon South Carolina, and Vermont.

Soldiers Get Shafted, Again and……………………!!

I was trying to write something more about this report I just read, but after these last eight previous years my rage keeps me from thinking straight in trying to add words to the total apathy, arrogance, and incompetence found in this country and it’s elected representatives.

But I want you to meet Melissa Sterry, a Gulf War I National Guard Veteran, from New Haven Connecticut, and read the cuts I placed below also visiting the Hartford Advocate and read the rest, not only about Ms. Sterry but as to the rest of the Veterans of Connecticut, and what the state reps have to say.  

No Backs, No Bras,

just young men and women protesting the war.

In my first ever photo diary.

A couple days ago, I covered the Two War Criminals For The Price Of One protest in Kent, Connecticut. When Glenn Koetzer of the Iraq Moratorium: Cornwall Edition sent me some photographs of the demonstration, I was surprised–to say nothing of delighted–at how many young people had showed up during a weekday to stand against the war-mongering tagteam of Henry Kissinger and George W. Bush.

My most recent piece continued in the same celebratory vein, only younger still. I shared the discovery I had just made that some fifth grade students at the Fratney School in Milwaukee, who’ve been regulars at the Third Friday Iraq Moratorium actions there, have their own website as Kids Against the War.

I sure hope this youth trend in the anti-war movement accelerates–check out the pix and you will too.