Archive - Apr 2006
April 29th
On the road with Ned Lamont
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 04/29/2006 - 20:36“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills.
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;”
Today, Kim, Fiona and I went to the 28th Annual Daffodil Festival in Meriden. For Ned, it was an opportunity to meet with people from Meriden and surrounding towns and talk about the issues that mattered to them. For us, it was an opportunity to enjoy some of the simple pleasures of our home state that too often gets overlooked.
Fiona was particularly interested in the swimming pool filled with trout where youngsters could try their hands at fishing. She also enjoyed a pony ride.
Last week, Kim and I joined Ned as he worshiped at Faith Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Stamford. It isn’t our regular church and we enjoyed a different style of worship than we are used to.
As I’ve traveled the State with different campaigns, I’ve found myself looking for these special times, chances to savor what Connecticut has to offer, from daffodil festivals, county fairs and oyster festivals, to a rich tradition of spirituality and innovation.
It struck me that this is perhaps what I like best, being on the road with a candidate I believe in.
Ned at the Daffodil festival in Meriden
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 04/29/2006 - 19:36
Ned talks with various people at the Daffodil festival in Meriden
Fiona riding a pony
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 04/29/2006 - 14:51
April 28th
"Nuestro Himno”
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 04/28/2006 - 21:52(Originally posted at DailyKos)
On July 27th, 2004, I was at the Democratic National Convention in Boston and wrote this blog entry about the music. “the real highlight was when Michael Enis and Alicia Chiles sang our National Anthem in Tohono O'odham
It was a wonderful honoring of the diversity that helps make our country strong.”
This evening, I heard a news report about "Nuestro Himno”, a Spanish rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner". Bush is quoted as saying, “"I think the National Anthem ought to be sung in English. And, I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English." (Ref: Spanish National Anthem Hits Sour Note with Bush – KTLA News. The article talks about how this rendition was done “as an expression of solidarity for the undocumented immigrants.”
This is not the first time a former Governor of Texas has said foolish things about English. Ann Richard’s is fond of quoting "Ma" Ferguson, the first female Governor of Texas as saying, “If the English language was good enough for Jesus Christ it was good enough for the school children of Texas.”
Well, if we are really all that concerned with immigration and what language the National Anthem should be sung in, then perhaps we should all be learning Tohono O'odham and singing that version.
April 27th
The way life shouldn’t be
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 04/27/2006 - 16:34I haven’t written about the Media Bloggers Association in quite a while, which is probably a good thing. Their website describes the organization this way:
The Media Bloggers Association is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting, protecting and educating its members; supporting the development of "blogging" or "citizen journalism" as a distinct form of media; and helping to extend the power of the press, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails, to every citizen.
While the promotion and education of its members is important, MBA probably makes its biggest mark in protecting bloggers against scurrilous lawsuits.
Today, I received an email about Maine Web Report. Lance, the blogger for Maine Web Report has been writing extensively the Maine Office of Tourism. Apparently, people haven’t taken well to his criticism, and an advertising firm involved has slapped him with a ‘3 count multi-million dollar federal lawsuit’. The MBA is will be acting as co-counsel in defending Lance.
I was born in Maine. I have friends in Maine. I still think of Maine as Vacationland and hope to move back to Maine one day. However, I must say, I am very disappointed with what I’m reading about those attempting to promote tourism in Maine.
This isn’t the way life should be. As much as I hate to say it, right now, I prefer New Hampshire and their motto.
Update:
Various bloggers that are writing about this include B. L. Ochman, Bill Hobbs, Tor Lindahl, Jason Clarke, James Joyner and Don Singleton
