Video from Dodd blogger conference

I've coined a new phrase, "blogger conference", which is when an elected official has a press conference, only with bloggers instead of those pushy mainstream media types.

OK, maybe I'm not the first writer to use that phrase, but until I get a "cease & desist" telling me to stop claiming that, it's MINE beeyotches!

Ahem...sorry about the lapse of manners there...I'm stuck in Buffalo right now, and nothing is worse than Buffalo in the rain. And by rain, I mean tropical storm. And by Buffalo, I mean a town filled with disappointed Bills fans, who were a bit crabby to begin with, and are now even worse after they lost badly to the Saints on Sunday.

CT Blogger put up a couple of excellent videos from the conference; and if you look closely, you might catch a glimpse of an elusive blogger who appeared in public without her Groucho glasses:

"We Are Given Moments Historically"

And with that, Senator Chris Dodd updated Connecticut bloggers on his legislative agenda at a meeting today in New Haven.

CTblogger and ConnecticutMan1 were there with their video camera. Here are the highlights on domestic issues. ConnecticutMan1 has a great post on Afghanistan:

• He will introduce a bill on FISA next week to "uphold the rule of law" and prohibit retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. He pointed out that it took years to get credit card reforms through, and that this needs another airing. He specifically thanked the blogosphere for not letting this issue rest.
• Student loan legislation will be introduced next winter
• Overdraft legislation will be introduced to provide consumers with choice -- allow the customer to decide if he wants the card rejected when it hits the credit limit or when there isn't enough to pay a debit card purchase, or if he wants the overdraft.
• The Banking committee will look at interchange fees and related contract terms that merchants are subjected to when they agree to take credit cards for payment. As CTKeith pointed out, small business owners who once accepted only cash can't survive today without credit cards, but the fees and terms are hurting business terribly. Dodd said this is a particularly complicated issue, but they are committed to tackle it
• The Senator will co-manage the floor debate on healthcare and the Democratic caucus wants the bills to come to the floor so there can be debate on the merits of the bills in full view of the public.
  
• Dodd said that dealing with the big issues is long overdue. They've been working "around the edges" for too many years and now there is a lot of work that needs to be done. He said, "We are given moments historically..." and that now is the time to act on these pressing domestic issues of healthcare and finance.
  

Biden talks turkey

OK, I'll admit that it's a hacky headline, but I couldn't resist! Our favorite Vice President, Joe Biden, once again went off the script at a fundraiser in Virginia last night. It always cracks me up.

Sometimes Biden displays the sort of brutal honesty one associates with a young child who hasn't yet learned how to filter his thoughts.

And this is why we love him!

When talking about the many Democrats that he helped over the years, he referred to a number of them as "turkeys".

"Some of the guys Chuck [Robb] and I have campaigned for are turkeys. Not all Democrats are created equal, while most Republicans are."

I wonder...who might qualify for that status?

Hmmmm.....




.

Would Lincoln be proud of this dope?

We've all heard how the Republican Party is the party of Abraham Lincoln ad nauseum . I wonder how ol' Honest Abe would feel if he heard what one of his political progeny is indulging in?

From Daily Kos:

According to Springfield, Missouri's NBC affiliate, Roy Blunt is starting to take some heat for his parable comparing the President Obama and Democrats in Washington, DC to a band of jungle monkeys terrorizing British imperialists trying to play a simple game of golf.

In Blunt's parable, the monkeys keep on storming out of the jungle and throwing golf balls around the course. As a result, he says, "you have to play the ball where the monkey throws it," because there's no way to eliminate the monkey problem.

As Rachel Maddow says, it is extraordinary that a senior member of Congress -- who just happens to be the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri -- thinks it's totally appropriate to cast his political opponents as jungle monkeys.

He deserves every bit of heat he gets.

And here's the video:

Gov. Rell thinks voters are stupid

In fact, I think she's counting on it! That's the only conclusion I can arrive at with this new information.

Based on the news this week that Gov. Rell knew she wouldn't have the line item veto available to her by not signing the budget bill, she was hoping to take credit anyway for wanting to cut the budget, and appear as if she would have succeeded were it not for the interfering actions of Dick Blumenthal and his nit-picky enforcement of the laws!

CT Blogger explains the situation over at My Left Nutmeg:

So what we basically have here is a governor who, instead of adhering to her legal counsel's advice, opted to grandstand in front of the cameras, babble on and on about so-called "pork spending" (spending could have addressed IF she'd LISTEN to her legal counsel and signed the budget in the first place) in an feeble attempt to score political points.

The Hartford Courant has additional details on the story. It took a FOIA request to get the emails that show what she was up to.

It's just so pathetic that Gov. Relic thinks you're all a bunch of dummies!

Sunday Night Music Club VIII

The third wave of ska peaked during the mid-to-late 1990s, with ska-influenced bands like Sublime and No Doubt embracing the "ska-punk" vibe.

Part of what I like about the genre is the way ska-punk bands cover well-known songs and give it a whole new feel. Here's two of my favorites:

Save Ferris covers "Come On Eileen" by the vastly underrated Dexy's Midnight Runners.

Sadly, Save Ferris has broken up, but I do hope to hear a lot more from singer Monique Powell.

If you hate goats, you'll love this movie!

At first I thought this was simply a standard issue Colbert Report bit:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Goat Lab
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests

And it turns out it's a REAL movie:



Although I still think the taco salad is a good idea.

Here's Where the Hate Starts

As the public debate sinks deeper into the gutter, many of us wonder where all this hate comes from. Well, here's one clue: the agenda of the Value Voters Summit going on in Washington, D.C. this weekend.

Some session titles:

• TRUE TOLERANCE: COUNTERING THE HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
• THE THREAT OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
• OBAMACARE: RATIONING YOUR LIFE AWAY
• MARRIAGE: WHY IT'S WORTH DEFENDING AND HOW REDEFINING IT THREATENS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
• GLOBAL WARMING HYSTERIA: THE NEW FACE OF THE "PRO-DEATH" AGENDA
• THUGOCRACY - FIGHTING THE VAST LEFT WING CONSPIRACY -
• DEFUNDING PLANNED PARENTHOOD
• FAITH, POLITICS, AND THE INTERNET: HOW TO CONTEND FOR TRUTH IN A DIGITAL AGE

Compare these with the agenda items for the Netroots Nation meeting in Pittsburgh last month.

I can't get this song from the musical South Pacific out of my mind:

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!

HatCityBlogTV is here!

My very good friend (a guy I like to call "The Godfather of Connecticut Video Blogging") CT Blogger (aka Alphonso Robinson) has begun production of a weekly political news digest called "HatCityBlog Television".

Al's talent and his professional TV persona really comes through in his videos. And I love the '70s film house intro to this video, obviously inspired by Quentin Tarantino (and I know that he was, because when I saw that movie, I had the same "gee, that would make a GREAT intro to a video" thought that Al obviously did!)

So here's the first installment of HCBTV; and I want to publicly state I'm so completely disgusted by how naturally he pulls this off that I want to throw my camera out the window and take up knitting!

In other words, Bravo!

Schiff, McMahon join Republican fray

Two more Republicans lept into the steaming mélange of candidates vying for Chris Dodd's Senate seat in 2010:

Economist Peter Schiff (above), who said he'll remain CEO of his brokerage firm, Euro Pacific Capital while he runs for office.

Linda McMahon, who just stepped down as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (pictured with husband Vince; it's fun searching for images of Mrs. McMahon!)

They are adding to an already crowded field of GOP hopefuls, including former Congressman Rob Simmons, State Sen. Sam Caligiuri, and former ambassador Tom Foley.

-----------------------------
UPDATE: tparty over at My Left Nutmeg points out that Linda McMahon gave the DCCC a whopping $10,000 in 2006 (and another $5,000 in 2007), which certainly helped defeat her fellow Republican senate candidate Rob Simmons in his bid to retain his Congressional seat. Simmons lost to Joe Courtney by less than a hundred votes.

Think he's pissed about that?
-----------------------------

While Simmons has an early lead in polls due to name recognition, it will be interesting to see how the candidates stack up against each other when they start campaigning. Will we see a race to the extreme right, as often happens when Republicans try to top one another? Or will there be any candidates who try to appeal to Connecticut's moderate voting pool and express support for issues like a public option for health care, at the risk of alienating their party's base?

My guess is the latter former, because the eventual nominee will have to win with the Republicans first, before they can face the entire state.

("former" means the first one, right?)

We'll see...

(...and I'm very pleased with myself for crafting the phrase "steaming mélange"...the imagery it brings to mind is delightful!)

Carter is Not Afraid

While he is putting words to my precise thoughts, I nearly fell over when I heard this from Jimmy Carter on the news tonight. Thank God for his honesty.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

House passes Joe Wilson rebuke

In what many refer to as the smallest act of disapproval available to congressmen, the U.S. House passed the resolution today 240-179, largely along party lines. The entire Connecticut delegation voted yea (of course).

From FireDogLake:

The U.S. House Passed a Resolution of Disapproval for Rep. Joe Wilson's "you lie" outburst during President Obama's health care speech to Congress last week. The resolution passed 240-179.

Seven Republicans voted along with 233 Democrats in favor of the resolution. 12 Democrats and 167 Republicans voted against it with five Democrats voting "present."

Here is the text of the resolution:

RESOLUTION
Raising a question of the privileges of the House.

Whereas on September 9, 2009, during the joint session of Congress convened pursuant to House Concurrent Resolution 179, the President of the United States, speaking at the invitation of the House and Senate, had his remarks interrupted by the Representative from South Carolina, Mr. Wilson; and

Whereas the conduct of the Representative from South Carolina was a breach of decorum and degraded the proceedings of the joint session, to the discredit of the House: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives disapproves of the behavior of the Representative from South Carolina, Mr. Wilson, during the joint session of Congressheld on September 9, 2009.

Gee, I hope Joe Wilson doesn't take the news badly.

He's very excitable, you know.

Jim Himes on the need for financial regulation

(President Obama aboard Air Force One yesterday with Rep. Anthony Weiner NY-9, Rep. Jim Himes CT-4, and Rep. Barney Frank MA-4)
This is the anniversary of last year's collapse of the huge investment firm Lehman Brothers.

This incredible financial upheaval was entirely avoidable, if only our government had done their job and provided entirely justifiable regulation.

To mark the occasion, here is Congressman Jim Himes (CT-04) talking about the need for financial regulation reform, taped at his Bridgeport office last week. Jim is a member of the House Committee of Financial Services, as well as the Committee on Homeland Security:

Joe Wilson may be censured today

News reports indicate that the House of Representatives may vote on a resolution later today to rebuke South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson for shrieking "You lie!" during President Obama's address to the entire Congress.

When I sat down with Jim Himes (CT-04) last week, we touched upon the Joe Wilson controversy, and what it means to the entire national debate.

A very worthy cause

If you've enjoyed the videos and the writing on this blog, take a moment and visit my fundraising page for The Wellness Cup.

What is the Wellness Cup?

The Wellness Cup is being held on October 3rd, at the Branford Yacht Club. It is a race that will attract boats from New London, CT to Milford, CT. In 2008, our inaugural race, $20,000 was raised with the help of out captains, crew, sponsors and volunteers. We are fortunate to have world-class sailor Gary Jobson lending his name to the event as well as the support from many well known, exceptional manufacturers and publications from the sailing industry.

Who will benefit from the proceeds of the Wellness Cup?

All proceeds will benefit the Wellness Community
of Southern Connecticut (TWC-SCT).

The Wellness Community of Southern Connecticut facility will be located along the shoreline and will service all of Southern Connecticut. To open our doors, we need a minimum of $500,000, of which twenty percent has been raised. TWC programs are designed to help ALL cancer patients/survivors and their loved ones in a "home" style setting and are all FREE of charge - NO insurance required. TWC provides professionally-led support groups, educational workshops, and stress reduction programs that include exercise and mind/body practices. TWC-SCT has already conducted several local educational programs in conjunction with Yale, St. Raphael’s, and other hospitals. The first TWC opened its doors in 1982 in Southern California and has expanded to include 23 communities worldwide, 28 satellites and online support. The dream for the Southern Connecticut facility began in the summer of 2006.

Any amount is welcome, so please consider tossing a few bucks to this very worthy cause by clicking on the link and pressing the online "Make a Contribution" button. (If you do it, I'll try to refrain from posting so many goofy pictures of myself like the one below!)

Thank you!

- Connecticut Bob

Teabaggers defecate on 9/11 memorial day

They couldn't take a break from their awful caterwauling for even a single goddamned day! Un-fucking-believable!

This is what all the corporate-brainwashed rubes were doing on this sacred day of remembrance:

Ray Charles disrupts Tea Party!

In a brilliant bit of political theater, the 9/11 tea party in Bridgeport was interrupted by the legendary Ray Charles, singing an American classic! Ann Coulter was on the stage when it happened.

Coming up!

Bob just reported in from the tea bag party in Bridgeport. He was thisclose to Ann Coulter, so we may need to disinfect him. Video to come.

In the meantime, read the memorial post that follows. Not a day for a tea party or any kind of party in my mind.

Day of Remembrance

We will never forget
Congressman Jim Himes writes about that terrible day and it's meaning to all of us:

Dear Friends,

Eight years ago today, I emerged from a subway station in lower Manhattan and saw that we were in a darker world than any of us had ever imagined. That grim day remains fresh in my memory. The policemen, firemen and medics working through the dust, smoke and their grief and fear to bring hope and aid to the horror. The New Yorkers standing in lines stretching for blocks to give blood. The heartfelt expressions of concern among total strangers.

As much as it pains me to remember that day, to recall the loss of thousands of innocents, I also look back with pride. Shortly after the attacks, our nation pulled together in a way I had never seen. We set aside our petty differences, our superficial concerns, and were drawn to each other as family, as countrymen, as a fair and good people under attack by the very worst. Many fellow Americans enlisted in our armed services, and continue to make staggering sacrifices to keep us safe. Many looked for ways to better engage with their communities, to be more active in our shared mission to improve the world. To some extent, I trace the first stirrings of my interest in government service to that day eight years ago.

Now I find myself on the Committee on Homeland Security of the U.S. Congress. I never walk into the committee room without thinking of 9/11 and the vulnerabilities exposed that day. While we have learned much and adapted, we still have hard work to do, both at home and abroad.

In remembering this day, I think we do most honor to those we lost by remembering the way we felt on 9/12. Never in my lifetime do I recall us feeling so united, so willing to stand for all that is good and right about our country, so prepared to set aside our narrow interests to pursue a common purpose. In these days of challenge and crisis, I hope that spirit thrives.

God bless,

Jim

Southern discomfort

Once again, a Republican brought shame onto the great state of South Carolina.

Apparently Congressman Joe Wilson doesn't have anything as tawdry as a mistress stashed in Argentina, but he certainly does have a problem with impulse control all the same. Maybe it's because of all those town hall meetings he attends, but he apparently forgot to bring his manners with him last night.

So much for southern gentility!

From TPMTV:

Mean Jean thinks Obama isn't a citizen

It's been a while since the "Crazy Old Lady of Capitol Hill", otherwise known as Rep. Jean Schmidt (OH-02) has provided a colorful sound bite, but that changed just yesterday when she appeared at a teabagger rally.

Video blogger supreme Mike Stark has been chasing down members of Congress and trying to get them to go on the record about health care. Stark, who was famously smacked down and wrestled out of an appearance by then-Senator George Allen of Virginia back in 2006 (which was probably avoidable had he been slightly more cagey with Allen's over-excitable goon squad) has become a leading vlogger of the health care reform movement.

In this video we can see Schmidt's staffers doing their best to shield their boss from the all-seeing camera eye. Spazeboy has a video where he encountered a similarly knuckleheaded staffer from Joe Lieberman's campaign at the memorable 2006 State Democratic Primary. Sadly, the video is apparently gone from Youtube. Anyway, it's very revealing when candidates have to be protected from embarrassing themselves with their own words.

Just to prove my point

This was the VERY FIRST COMMERCIAL on CNN after Obama's health care speech! The swiftboaters were already lined up and ready to spread more lies, even BEFORE the speech was delivered!



Jesus Tapdancing Christ!

These people are shameless!

The Public Option explained clearly

The much anticipated Obama health care speech is about to begin. While we wait, I wanted to share this with you.

In this video (via HuffPo) Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich takes about 70 seconds to explain the way the Public Option works. Then he talks about the motivations of the people who are making all the noise opposing it. This is perhaps the most concise description of what the public option really is that I've ever heard.

And because he's not a teabagger, you won't hear phrases like "health care rationing" or "death panels" at any point.

Because he's telling the simple truth.

Swiftboating health care reform

Tonight President Obama will make what some are calling his "make or break speech" for health care reform.

As much noise and confusion we've been subjected to by the rabid corporate foes of reform over the last several months, I'm sure it will pale in comparison to the hysterical response we're going to see from the extremely vocal minority of corporate conservatives in the next few days.

Groups like "CPR" (aka Conservatives for Patients' Rights) have been keeping busy employing the very same tactics used by the Swiftboaters from the 2004 presidential election. And it's no wonder, when CPR is closely associated with the very same conservative backers who funded the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, the organization who quite successfully besmirched Sen. John Kerry's honorable war record with saturation ads and rampant mistruths.

The swiftboat techniques being used in the health care reform debate are comprised of the same two tenants of the anti-Kerry ads:

1. Advocating for an unpopular status quo.
2. Lying.

So it'll come as no surprise when the anti-reform hysteria is further fanned by a bombardment of TV ads, talk radio smear campaigns, and Fox News cheerleading. It's gonna get ugly out there.

Here's a noxious little example of the corporate anti-reform groups' agenda. See if you can count all the baseless assumptions and lies of omission:

Gov. Rell is so obviously over this "governing" thing

OK, so let me get this straight...

Gov. Rell said she hated the budget passed by large majorities in the State House and Senate, but she refused to veto it.

Then Gov. Rell said she'd get rid of all those items she considered "pork" by using the line item veto. Then she didn't do it.

So, Jodi wanted to abstain from being responsible for any part of the budget, even without doing a single thing within her power to change it.

I'm reminded of a lyric from the classic Rush tune Freewill:

"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

Apparently, she chose mediocrity.

Really, is there anything that Governor Relic still likes about the job, besides marching in parades and opening shopping centers?



(...and while I was never a major Rush fan by any means, it's kind of cool to see that Geddy Lee can still rock out. Must be because of that great health care they have in Canada!)

Milford kids drop out en masse

In a shocking turn of events this afternoon, every single Milford public school pupil has dropped out of school!

Evidence suggests the children, who were just denied the opportunity to watch President Obama's "Back To School" speech (including a stay-in-school message) by Milford's Superintendent of Schools Harvey B. Polansky, didn't understand that they should stay in school rather than quit.

As a result, every single Milford child has now dropped out, and they are currently roaming the streets causing a noisy ruckus.

* * * UPDATE: Apparently my information was somewhat incorrect. Milford students haven't dropped out...yet!

We apologize for the error.

----------------------------

But really, was it absolutely necessary to politicize a talk from the President just because you don't agree with his politics? Has the partisan divide the conservatives are so feverishly working for finally reached this level? It's really getting silly.

Picard defends blocking WH Bob blog

(Mayor John M. Picard; image from his Facebook page)
In an article in Friday's New Haven Register, West Haven Mayor John M. Picard defended the move to block the political blog West Haven Bob:

“People are supposed to be working, not doing other things,” Picard said. He added the city is in the process of restricting Internet access for employees in an effort to cut down on people surfing the Net on the clock.

[..]

The creator of the blog, Robert Symmes, says the move amounts to blatant censorship.

“I think it’s simply because Picard does not want my personal viewpoint available on city computers,” Symmes said.

Symmes's blog is frequently critical of the mayor and his administration. Symmes claims that other blogs, including this one, was available to computers on the city network for a time after his blog was banned.

Mayor Picard already experienced a controversy this year, when he briefly dropped his bid for reelection, and then promptly flip-flopped on that decision with little plausible explanation.

My guess is that Picard didn't like what Symmes was writing and decided to block his site from the city network. When we started reporting on this story, the mayor needed to go back and block all blogs in order not to appear heavy-handed in his censorship. Somehow I'm sure there's a way to determine if Symmes was singled out for banning before Picard apparently took steps to cover up his treachery.

The issue of blocking blogs, social networking sites, and media sites is a very tricky thing. Too often, a political blog may be banned while an obviously partisan media website will still be allowed. Censorship of this nature is nearly impossible to enforce fairly, which means you should either allow all of them, or block literally >everything that isn't a city-related website.

Plus, the mayor apparently has a Facebook page for discussions and events. Should we assume that it will be blocked also?

Let's Get Our Terms Straight

Since words are being thrown around to describe the president and the health care plan, I thought I would provide this public service by providing actual definitions of these terms so you can use them correctly. Consider it our gift to you.

Nazi: a member of the National Socialist German Workers' party of Germany, seized political control of the country, suppressing all opposition and establishing a dictatorship over all cultural, economic, and political activities of the people, and promulgated belief in the supremacy of Hitler as Führer, aggressive anti-Semitism, the natural supremacy of the German people, and the establishment of Germany by superior force as a dominant world power.
Socialism: a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of goods in the community as a whole. A socialist is one who advocates socialism.
Socialized medicine: any of various systems to provide the entire population with complete medical care through government subsidization and regularization of medical and health services [the way Medicare provides care for seniors]
Fascism: a system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. And don't many of Obama's critics on the right find fault with the fact that he has apologized for prior policies and actions that offended people of other countries? Hardly belligerent nationalism -- my country, right or wrong. And, um, isn't it censorship to want to ban the president from speaking to school children to encourage them to do well?

Just askin'.

Q&A with Jim Himes

Prior to Wednesday's town hall meeting in Norwalk, Rep. Jim Himes (CT-04) met with members of the media and bloggers to answer a few questions. Listen for Special Correspondent Tessa Marquis to ask a question during the Q&A.

Stamford Bishop heckled at town hall meeting

Rep. Jim Himes (CT-04) held an open town hall meeting in Norwalk last night to share ideas about the current health care issue.

During the meeting, Stamford Bishop Emilio Alvarez asked a question in Spanish. The bishop knows that Himes is fluent in Spanish, having been born in Peru and spending some of his childhood in various South American countries.

The town hall audience of roughly 1,200 people were made up of a clear majority of voters who support health care reform. But there was a very vocal minority of anti-reform people who reacted loudly to Bishop Alvarez's question.

Fairfield County, which comprises a large part of the 4th congressional district, has roughly 11% Spanish-speaking residents, and according to the 2000 census only 76% of the population considers English their first language.

Yet throughout the course of the evening, only a single question was asked in Spanish, and it elicited a near-hysterical reaction from the anti-reform crowd. Listen to the anger in the video, and Himes's measured response to their naked hostility:

City of West Haven blocks dissenting blog

West Haven Bob, a blog which occasionally criticizes city officials and policies, has been blocked from every computer on the City of West Haven municipal system, according to R.J. Symmes, the blog's owner:

The word came out today...West Haven Bob is blocked from all City-owned computers! I guess I pressed one too many buttons....

Of course, the West Haven Voice is not similarly blocked...probably because little Billy (ed: the editor of the Voice, Bill Riccio) prefers pulling to pushing (when it comes to buttons, AND punches, that is!)

This is actually a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, as (repeatedly) upheld by the Supreme Court. The right of any citizen to read any opinion is inviolate...and censoring some opinions while permitting other opinions...well, let's just say Stalin would approve.

Apparently, hearing a point of view (besides that spewed out by our benevolent overlords and parroted in the Voice) is a waste of time...

If the above is true, it appears that Symmes's blog was blocked for purely political reasons. A quick read of the blog doesn't turn up any obvious instances of profanity or sexual content, which are the usual reasons given for blocking a blog. This seems to be simply an effort to silence a voice of dissent from being heard by city employees and administrators.

The current West Haven mayor, John Picard, is a frequent target of the blog. Recently Picard stunningly dropped out of his campaign to win reelection, and almost as quickly jumped back into the race, without much explanation.

Symmes has also been targeted by an anonymous pamphlet campaign, and his car was vandalized recently.

So far, city officials haven't given a reason for the censoring of the blog. I'll post updates as they come in.

What we did on vacation

I know it ain't politics, but really...don't you occasionally want something a bit different mixed in with all this dry, boring political stuff?

Here's some highlights of our vacation last week to the North Fork of Long Island. Now you'll see why we love our boat so much!

Spellbinding

House Minority Leader Lawrence C. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, obviously enthralls his House colleagues Monday night.

That Spider Solitaire game is really hard to beat, too.

(AP photo via The Hartford Courant)