Undercurrents

People who know me know that I am not by nature a secretive person. Nor am I known for keeping my opinions to myself.

So it is with a great sense of relief that I can now disclose that for almost nine months I’ve been working with lawyers from New Haven Legal Assistance on a case involving allegations of involuntary servitude, assault and abuse and violations of wage and hour laws at a bakery in New Haven. The twist is this: because the conditions to which our clients (six of the employees) were subjected were so bad, we were actually able to get *help* for them from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In fact, when the employer found out that the employees were planning to sue, ICE swooped in, removed our clients, and turned them over to social workers from the International Institute in Bridgeport. The In’tl. Inst. folks are presently housing our clients in an undisclosed location, and we are hopeful that in addition to bringing this civil lawsuit we will also be able to help them obtain work authorizations and visas.

Here’s the story as reported by the New Haven Independent online and here’s the Courant article.

Share This

Thank goodness for a Ct General Assembly that finally uses its super-majority to override one of many gubernatorial veto’s over the years, HB 5105 An Act Concerning the Minimum Wage

Some grim statistics:

A report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes that the Wealth INEQUALITY grew more in Connecticut than any other state (2004 -2006). Some statistics from their report are:

1. The richest 20 percent of families have average incomes 8.0 times as large as the poorest 20 percent of families; this ratio was 4.6 in the late 1980s;
2. This growth in income inequality is largest in the nation;
3. The very richest families - top 5% - have average incomes 14.8 times as large as the poorest 20 percent of families;
4. The gap between Connecticut’s richest and poorest families is 7th largest in the nation;
5. The average income of the poorest fifth and middle fifth of families did not significantly change, while the richest fifth of families rose by $20,000 from $148K to $169K (more…)

   Share This

    

I can’t believe he just died.  This article is a nice tribute to him:

Click here.   

Share This

It’s a pretty well-known fact if you’re one of the millions of people who read your daily newspaper online. Many papers, including the Courant, provide some form of “public forum” that allows readers (or anyone) to post comments on a specific news item. Some are tightly moderated, or require that you register before you can post. Others, like the Topix forums to which the Courant articles link, can be used and abused by just about anyone. (more…)

Share This

I spent eight minutes with Dennis House in an interview that will be aired Sunday morning at 11 on WFSB’s “Face the State.”  I think I was able to keep my seething core from blowing on camera, but I did manage to utter ”thug” and “fascist.”  Check it out.  And if you haven’t signed my petition, drop me an email at sfournier1945@yahoo.com  and I’ll pay you a visit. 

Share This

In the neo-democratic institutions of the 21st Century, the inalienable right of the people to opt out of debate and decision-making has created a new social order: decidership. Americans live in a decidership, and it has rather suddenly replaced the republic we have been relinquishing over the past 20 years or so. (more…)

Share This

Found this on YouTube.  Too good not to share.

Share This

I sent this letter today to my Congressman John Larson: 

“I watched and listened carefully to Congressman Kucinich’s 35-article resolution, as I’m sure you did.  You and I had already discussed a number of the charges he introduced Monday, and there were many more that weren’t included on my list.  On the strength of the public record alone, as Kucinich argued with great eloquence, there is overwhelming evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the President and his agents, causing manifest injury to our country and our people.  (more…)

Share This

First HRC attempts to marginalize the Transgender Community and now Metroline is quick on their heels of Trans Oppression! The current issue of Metroline has an Editorial by the Editor Joseph DaBrow that revises Stonewall History (4th paragraph) by stating that at Stonewall “there were no drag queens there at all. It was gay human beings simply standing up for being who they were.” Has Mr. DaBrow and the publisher of Metroline John Crowley never heard of Sylvia Rivera or Marsha P. Johnson both well know and prominent Stonewall Veterans? Perhaps if Mr. DaBrow and Crowley attended our New England Trans Pride, they would have heard Miss Majors, a Stonewall Veteran, as well as many other speakers remember the critical participation of our Transgender (i.e. Drag Queens or Transvestites in 1969 vernacular) comrades at Stonewall. Or to learn that the theme of this first ever New England Trans Pride was: “Remember Stonewall? That was us!” Or perhaps they never listened to Pacifica Radio’s excellent audio documentary: “Remembering Stonewall.” (more…)

Share This

Click here for a link to a video of Bill Moyers and Fox News producer Porter Barry debating at the National Conference for Media Reform this past weekend. Barry and Moyers go back and forth and then when they’re done Porter gets ambushed by some onlookers who ask him about journalism.

Share This