Undercurrents

The battle for the hearts and minds of New York Times readers heated up Sunday. Check out the op ed by seven grunts just returned from 15 months in Iraq.

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Today’s Courant has an important article about Judge John R. Downey, who has been nominated by Governor Rell to serve on the Connecticut Appellate Court. You may have read recently that Judge Downey, who awaits confirmation by the legislature, was criticized for having opened a session of his court with a “tribute” to the late Senator Strom Thurmond. Downey bragged about having known Thurmond while a law student in the 1970’s – a time before Thurmond’s attempt to rehabilitate his public image as an arch-racist and segregationist. Some members of the Judiciary Committee, which is charged with conducting a confirmaton hearing for Judge Downey on Tuesday, have criticized him for his praise of Thurmond.

Of course, the judge’s supporters have claimed that his opinion about whether Thurmond was a great man or a great bigot is not relevant to his nomination. Many people would disagree and question whether a judge who praised one of the icons of racist bigotry in the United States could possibly be expected to render justice for people of color in his court.

However, in the latest revelation about Judge Downey it is not merely his opinions that are at issue but whether those opinions interfere with his ability to apply established Connecticut law. (more…)

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On Wednesday August 15, theater goers and others milling around downtown got a treat - live gospel music out in the open air. A choir from one of Hartford’s churches opened for Mahalia - A Gospel Musical, running until August 19 at Hartford Stage. The singers’ voices bounced off buildings downtown, and pleasantly surprised many of the suburbanites who attended the play. Here’s some video of the performance:

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With new data from the National Priorities Project (NPP), anti-war activists converged on Senator Lieberman’s office today in downtown Hartford. Approximately twenty activists, most of whom responded to MoveOn.org’s call to action, demonstrated outside of Lieberman’s office.

Organizers of the event informed Undercurrents that the major media had been contacted about the demonstrations. MoveOn.org was coordinating similar events all over the country. Sources tell Undercurrents that the Courant responded by saying that they would not cover the event because “it was set up by a group that was too partisan.” MoveOn.org has targeted Tribune Corp. for its cost cutting measures, including mass firings. (more…)

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I posted some video excerpts from Monday’s press conference, led by Cornell Lewis, Francis Davila and Jerimarie Liesegang. The first features questions from HIMC reporters. The second is the complete statement prepared by the group. I hope to get a video up soon that shows a montage of the ineptitude of the commercial media folks who repeatedly asked the same questions, and fumbled with their equipment because they were late.

(more…)

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You may already have read an account of how members of the Providence, Rhode Island branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and their supporters were attacked by the police while conducting a peaceful and lawful demonstration in support of workers’ rights. One of the marches was seriously maced and another had her leg broken by the police. If you would like a full account, there is a link to a report here.

The Northeast Region of the National Lawyers Guild was asked to prepare a statement of solidarity and we as a region as well as several local chapters (Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine) have done so. Following is the text of the statement (which incidentally in this draft repeats the common mistake of referring to the IWW as International rather than Industrial Workers of the World). We decided, however, that we would seek to broaden the statement and though it has been initiated by the NLG we invite other organizations in the Northeast to sign on. If you wish to add your organization’s name to the list of signatories, please email me as soon as possible at pdgoselin@lapm.org.
Peter Goselin
Northeast Region co-vp
National Lawyers Guild (more…)

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The Farmers’ Market at Billings Forge is hosting a free Kids’ Day tomorrow, Thursday August 16^th from 11 am to 3 pm at 559 Broad St near Capitol Ave in Hartford.  As part of the festivities circus duo Matica will wow and involve kids in an interactive circus act and Mike Kachuba and Jeff McQuillan will play fun, sing-along music from 11:30 to 1:30.  Vegetables will never be so much fun!

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With Mattel’s recall of several million lead-contaminated toys from China, you may have heard a reporter express an opinion critical of Chinese toymakers and the lax standards applied to the manufacture of goods bound for the U.S. What you haven’t heard is any suggestion that the goods be manufactured here. (more…)

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Listen to HIMC’s RadioActive today covering Monday’s press conference.

RadioActive can be heard every Wednesday at Noon on 91.3fm WWUH and then the next Tuesday at 1:30pm on 88.1fm WESU. Thanks to Real Hartford for the reminder!

In other news- checkout the AP’s full story on Monday’s press conference here. It should come as no surprise that the Tribune sponsored Comments section of the story sounds like a KKK forum.

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Yesterday morning I was riding the ‘Q’ bus on my way back home after dropping my son’s car at an auto body shop on New Britain Avenue in West Hartford. Getting from Elmwood to the West End involves riding an inbound bus to downtown, then hopping an outbound ‘A’ bus. Doing it once in a while is an adventure, having to do it everyday would be a drag. At a Main Street stop just north of South Green, a young Hispanic woman rushed onto the bus in a panic. (more…)

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