A delegation of five Connecticut lawyers will converge on Senator Joseph Lieberman’s Hartford office tomorrow to make the case for restoration of the writ of habeas corpus. (more…)
May 2007
Monthly Archive
Thu 31 May 2007
Lawyers Target Lieberman on Imprisonment Without Trial
Posted by steve fournier under justice[5] Comments
Tue 29 May 2007
I read your letter in its entirety (not just the cutesy sound bites grabbed up by the
corporate media), and while I feel a sadness about your decision, I don’t blame you in the least. You have explained yourself well, in a way that I imagine won’t be received openly by those who need to hear your words the most.
As a woman who has had to deal with what I think most people fear most–losing a loved one–you seem to not fear the normal, smaller things that derail the rest of us who are well-intentioned, but weak. (more…)
Tue 29 May 2007
But where did all the Clear Channel Employees Go?
Posted by Michael under it's the stupid media , radio[2] Comments
Listening to The Rock 106.9 this weekend, you might have heard something along the lines of “Thank you for calling the offices of all the other radio stations. We’re not in this weekend…”
This promo sparked my interest. After all, having a DJ on staff is just good business for a radio station. So this Memorial Day, I found a list of the Hartford Radio Stations and turned on my radio. (more…)
Mon 28 May 2007
Actor and comedienne Charles Nelson Reilly died on Friday in LA. He was 76. The outrageous Reilly was known as a game show fixture and his 95 appearances on the “Tonight” show with Johnny Carson. But Reilly was also a Tony award winning actor and director.As a young boy, Reilly moved to Hartford. It was here that he developed his love of the theater. At the age of 13, Reilly escaped the Hartford Circus Fire which claimed the lives of 168 people.
Reilly came out as a gay man for his show Save It for the Stage. But his openly gay persona was far ahead of its time.
Fri 25 May 2007
On Wednesday, Jordin Sparks took the nation by storm as she became the youngest American Idol, ever, at age 17. Just think, she could have started watching the show when she was twelve as Idol completed its sixth season on Fox and at the top of this year’s ratings.
I would speculate that the draw of American Idol is that it makes Pop culture an obtainable dream for the average American. Or rather, the show lets you have a stake in (or at least an opinion of) what you want the future of American Pop to look like. In short it makes pop culture interactive.
This got me thinking. There are many things in American society that it would be good to have some stake in, like politics. Just think if you could follow your favorite candidate through an entire season and then go through some sort of voting process, say, to put him in office. I think I’d call these “elections.” (more…)
Fri 25 May 2007
This weekend the chicken hawks who started the Iraq War and the veterans of past wars who should know better will express their gratitude to Americans killed in combat. Here’s an epitaph that makes more sense, courtesy of Edgar Lee Masters in New Spoon River, a message from beyond the grave from a group he called “Unknown Soldiers”:
Stranger! Tell the people of Spoon River two things:
First that we lie here, obeying their words;
And next that had we known what was back of their words
We should not be lying here!
Thu 24 May 2007
Keith Olbermann, rapidly becoming the only voice of reason in mainstream media, appropriately went on the offensive last night on his show, Countdown, on MSNBC. Olbermann unleashed a torrent against the spineless Democratic leadership without forgetting Bush’s web of deadly lies and his politicization of the military. Olbermann asserts correctly that the entire government has failed the American people, and in particular the Democrats have betrayed the promise that catapulted them to power after the 2006 midterm election. Thanks to the Dems, there will be evermore people to memorialize this weekend.
Read or see Olbermann’s “Special Comment:”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18831132/
Wed 23 May 2007
George was a no show at the Veterans of Future Wars breakfast in New London today. What a mook. There was a good crowd at the Coast Guard Academy, though, waiting to welcome our Commander in Chief. On one side of the street were 300, maybe 400 patriotic Americans holding signs with constructive criticism regarding George’s current excellent adventures in Mesopotamia. On the other side of the street were a motley crew of 30-40 mostly middle-aged men calling themselves a gathering of Eagles, claiming to be veterans. This group was led by a portly man with a bullhorn who said he had served four years in the Marines. Looked like he spent most of his time in the chow line. A line of New London cops, maybe a statie or two, and about a half-dozen bored looking German shepherds kept the two groups from engaging in any meaningful face-to-face dialogue. We were reduced to shouting pleasantries at each other. The usual suspects gave speeches, there was a colorful group of young anarchists who made the cops nervous with their bandana-covered faces. The weather was great, mainstream media was there. But we didn’t see George. He must have snuck in the back.
Wed 23 May 2007
Some of you know that I often have vivid, life-like, and extremely bizarre dreams, probably due to the unimaginable quantities of chocolate I consume. Usually, they involve school buses, dirty public bathrooms, being lost, and Alaska. But last night, I had my second ever George W. Bush dream.
A few years ago, I had my first one. In it, Air Force One (or whatever his official plane is called) crash landed in my parents’ backyard. In the dream, I had this ethical choice to make of how to deal with that. After repeatedly demanding to know why he was making the choices he was (this was right after the start of the Iraq Invasion), I chose to help get him water. (more…)
Mon 21 May 2007
This morning a bear cub was found in a tree at the intersection of Prospect Ave. and Boulevard. As I biked home I was curious about the helicopter overhead and had to stop and ask because of the sheer number of TV stations. I approached the crowd gathered on the other side of the street, half expecting to hear that a dead body had been found. The crowd grew as Animal Control tranquilized the bear and got it down into the back of a truck.
The entrance to the auto shop was flanked with TV cameras, news reporters, and curious people just like myself. I counted three TV stations each with a lady reporter and five video cameras. I found myself taking more pictures of this spectacle than trying to get a shot of the bear. Animal Control let everyone crowd around the truck to see the bear before leaving. As I made my way in to take a picture I wondered if everyone else was thinking what I was–we sure have f*cked it up for the animal kingdom. These innocents have increasingly less undeveloped space, not to mention the changes that are coming to pass as a result of global warming.
I was also trying to determine what makes this news and is it newsworthy. (more…)