References on National Public Radio to the section of Baghdad known as Sadr City seldom fail to mention that it is a “Shia slum.” They don’t call it an impoverished neighborhood or its residents a disadvantaged minority. Rather, they employ a slur–they did it again repeatedly this week–and a particularly disparaging one at that. (more…)
May 2008
Monthly Archive
Thu 22 May 2008
Wed 21 May 2008
About 120 people gathered Wednesday outside the gate of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy in New London to protest the government’s war policy. The occasion was the commencement of the school’s class of 2008 and the visit of commencement speaker Richard Cheney. (more…)
Tue 20 May 2008
Equal accessibility to Hartford’s main library?
Posted by jerimarie liesegang under Hartford , accessibility[3] Comments
“Over and Over again we told them, and they still don’t want to listen” said Claude Holcomb to Richard Nelson of Queers Without Borders. Claude is the founder of ADAPT CT, an organization that has been working for 7 months attempting to get the city of Hartford and the Hartford Public Library to fix a big mistake: The city of Hartford spent $42 Million on expansion and renovation of the main library. A state of the art expansion where they even put in a fine new ramp to get from street level up to the entrance ~ but guess what? They forgot to make the doors accessible for people in wheel chairs. No button. No automatic door opener. Claude told Queers Without Borders that in researching this issue, that the cost of a button and automatic door is around $2,000 dollars. Not very much at all. Yet the city says that they can’t put in a button because the door is glass (an engineering conundrum?, we don’t think so). To add insult to injury, those needing accessible access are being told: “Go around to the back, that’s accessible.” Makes sense, beautiful front door for everyone (oops, unless of course you happen to be in a wheelchair!) All are welcomed to come to the meeting on May 23rd at 4:30 pm. The meeting will be held at 24 Park Place which is Park Place Towers, the 2nd building from the street. After reading this blog entry, we encourage you to contact Susan McMullen City of Hartford Director of Constituent Services (757-9525) and express your outrage at this clear violation of making all City space fully welcoming and accessible to all peoples. Separate but equal access cannot be tolerated. (more…)
Tue 20 May 2008
Farmers’ Market at Billings Forge
Posted by Hannah under Hartford , art , food , health , fun , music , celebrationNo Comments
This Thursday May 22nd is the opening day of the Farmers’ Market at Billings Forge. The market is located on Broad St. between Capitol and Russ, right next to the Firebox Restaurant. Chef Jason Collin will be giving a cooking demonstration at 12:30 pm.
After last year’s successful first season the market will be open Mondays and Thursdays from 11 am to 2 pm with twice the vendors, prepared foods, picnic tables, and live music through the month of October. Please visit their website for more information at www.hartfordfarmersmarket.org.
Fri 16 May 2008
Is the Bush administration really trying to help the people of Myanmar recover
from the natural disaster that struck there? Then why is it insisting that the
Pentagon be in charge of its aid? And why did it impose sanctions on the
country when it knew the cyclone was about to hit?
http://www.workers.org/2008/world/myanmar_0522
Fri 16 May 2008
I just saw Dessa Rose, the main stage production of the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. It’s not your run-of-the-mill high school play. These kids kick ass and take no prisoners. Public education at its finest. Students come from participating towns in central Connecticut. Great acting, singing, dancing, live music by students and a few ringers. Call 860-757-6388 for tickets. The theater is at 359 Washington St., Hartford. Parking garage adjacent to the theater or park on the mean streets of Hartford. We did. Show times Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Thu 15 May 2008
FreePress just announced the the Senate just voted to throw out a decision by the FCC to allow big media companies to swallow up even more local media. I pasted the announcement below. (more…)
Sun 11 May 2008
Many of us should be getting our rebate checks in the mail soon. President Bush claims that by putting more money into the public’s hands we will be more likely to spend it and, in so doing, prevent the economy from continuing down its slow and steady spiral towards a recession. (more…)
Sun 11 May 2008
Anti-Hybrid Propaganda
Posted by kevin under it's the stupid media , environment , green[3] Comments
I’m always curious to read discussions of hybrid cars in the mainstream press. The following story came from Yahoo! News, and it was one of the featured stories for Yahoo! email users today. Part of the fixation with the anti-fuel efficiency perspective is on cost, especially relatively short term cost like what you’ll pay in a year or over 5 years. This article is no exception. What’s more aggravating is that when the environmental reasons are mentioned, they are done so with such tokenism in a way that’s really insulting or patronizing to the reader. In this article, the writer dedicates all of two and a half sentences to the really important reasons to buy more fuel efficient vehicles, only to ultimately leave the reader with the importance of a “bottom-line” analysis.
What’s most demeaning about this article and others like it is that it states the obvious as if it’s some grand discovery worthy of our attention: new hybrid cars cost a lot of money. Of course, so do new conventional fuel cars. In an analysis of a new hybrid versus a new conventional car of the same type or class, the financial benefits of the hybrid would likely shine. But instead of focusing on this comparison, idiot writers, like Terry Jackson from Bankrate.com, focus on ridiculous menial mental exercises that perpetuate our snail’s pace in the world of automotive fuel efficiency.
Click here to read “Trading in Gas Guzzler May Cost You.”
Thu 8 May 2008
During the remainder of the debate over who should be president, you may hear one or more of the following words. Among a certain class of voters in states like Kentucky and West Virginia, where elections will soon be held, these words don’t have their usual meaning. Here’s a quick glossary of a few of these unusual terms, as defined in the local patois:
- Hard-working: White
- Patriotic: White
- Overtaxed: White
- Reverent: White
- Proud: White
- Responsible: White
Use this glossary to help interpret campaign literature and assess election returns.