Archive - Mar 2010
March 13th
Connecticut Coffee Parties
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 03/13/2010 - 20:26Today was the official kickoff of Coffee Parties in the United States. Here in Connecticut, three coffee parties were listed on their website. One party was scheduled for 3 PM at Mocha Coffee House in Sandy Hook. Twenty-nine people signed up to attend this event. A second event was scheduled for 2 PM at Port Coffeehouse in Bridgeport. The third event was schedule at Fiddleheads Food Coop in New London at noon. Thirteen people signed up for this event. The locations were generally chosen as good places to have coffee and talk about politics and not necessarily because the owners of the venues were supporting the Coffee Party movement. Other people have discussed organizing coffee parties in other parts of the state and may do so at a later time.
Fiona, Kim and I decided to drive out to the Coffee Party in New London, since we had other things we wanted to be doing at that end of the state today. It was a fairly diverse crowd, bringing in people from Common Cause, CCAG, various peace and justice groups, people concerned about health care, and people who had really never been involved in politics other than simply voting. People went around the room, introduced themselves and spoke briefly about issues that matter to them. Kim spoke about the importance of making sure that the Connecticut Citizen’s Election Program is fixed so that it is maintained in our state, and others spoke about the importance of the national Fair Elections Now Act, and other acts before Congress to address the Citizen’s United ruling.
The group decided to stay in touch via email and to plan another gathering in the near future. Did you got to a coffee shop today? If so, how was it?
Update:
For more information check out the CT Coffee Party Website, Facebook Group, and Google Group.
March 12th
RIP: Greenwich DTC Chair and friend, Dave Roberson
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 13:05“In the end, we all die alone”. Last November, Greenwich Democratic Town Committee Chair Dave Roberson started off his tribute to his recently deceased father challenging this view. He spoke about those who cared for his father in his final hour and he spoke of his belief in that “great cloud of witnesses” that Saint Paul talks about.
Monday, Dave challenged that view again. The newspaper reports talked about a witness who saw Dave’s car veer off the road as he suffered an apparent heart attack. They talked about the EMTs that pulled Dave from the wreckage and tried in vain to save his life. They did not talk about the angels or the great cloud of witnesses that I am sure God sent to be with Dave as he moved from this world to the next. Perhaps some of my sleeplessness Monday night was not due to the stresses in my own life, but my spirit longing to be near an old friend as he moved on as well.
Dave had a lot of friends in politics. He was a cheerful, dedicated, hard worker. As I think about his life and the crowds that will gather to memorialize it, I remember a scene from the movie Norma Rae. In it, Reuben Warshowsky, a union organizer, talks about his own father’s death and those that came to the funeral
On October 4, 1970, my grandfather, Isaac Abraham Warshowsky, aged eighty-seven, died in his sleep in New York City. On the following Friday morning, his funeral was held. My mother and father attended, my two uncles from Brooklyn attended, my Aunt Minnie came up from Florida. Also present were eight hundred and sixty-two members of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers and Cloth, Hat and Cap Makers' Union. Also members of his family. In death as in life, they stood at his side. They had fought battles with him, bound the wounds of battle with him, had earned bread together and had broken it together. When they spoke, they spoke in one voice, and they were heard. They were black, they were white, they were Irish, they were Polish, they were Catholic, they were Jews, they were one. That's what a union is: one.
That is also what we, the friends of Dave Roberson are: one. We became his friend through politics, through church, or many other activities. We might not all share the same religious beliefs or political beliefs, but we share an important kinship, or friendship with Dave Roberson and hopefully that will spur all of us on, to work for a better country and a better world.
I will miss Dave.
Note: For those of you who have not seen Dave’s tribute to his father, I am including it below the fold.
Review: Facebook Fairytales
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Fri, 03/12/2010 - 10:51We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so the only reading material around the house was either books we checked out of the local library or copies of Reader’s Digest. When my parents got divorced my mother headed off to college as part of her effort to build a new life for herself. She took a creative writing class and received a comment on her first paper that it read like a story from Reader’s Digest. My mother, not realizing this was intended as a put down, was very pleased.
Since those days, I’ve gone on to enjoy reading James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Marcel Proust, and others that are a long way from my early literary explorations. Yet I still enjoy, from time to time, picking up a story that reads like it is from Reader’s Digest.
I read a lot of books about the nature of online social networking. Tara Hunt’s book The Whuffie Factor is one of the best books I’ve read about online social networking, especially for young sophisticated geeks living in silicon valley, silicon alley, or other places such people gather. Shel Israel’s book, Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods seems the best for older business people. Shiv Singh’s Social Media Marketing For Dummies is one of the best for marketers, and the best for the general population seems to be Leslie Poston’s Twitter for Dummies.
But if you want to find a book that truly captures the power of social media in a way that your beloved Reader’s Digest reading aunt who plays the church organ out in Kansas can understand, there is no better book than Emily Liebert’s Facebook Fairytales: Modern-Day Miracles to Inspire the Human Spirit. The stories read like Reader’s Digest stories, in a good way. They are simple, touching, well written stories about how people have used Facebook to connect with one another in special ways. They have stories about strangers becoming friends and helping one another through major life events. There are stories of adoption, organ donation and more.
So, if you are a young sophisticated geek living in a silicon region of our country and want to find a book which will communicate what is really important about what you do to your beloved aunt who is skeptical of all this online stuff, get her a copy of Facebook Fairytales. For that matter, if you are just an average reader who would like something simple and uplifting to balance out some of the bad news of the day, Facebook Fairytales might bring you a little joy as well.
As a final note, especially in terms of the latest government regulations about product endorsements: I have received copies of each of the books mentioned in this blog post by publicists looking for a good review. I actually receive many requests to review books, but I don’t like writing negative reviews, so I turn down many of the book review requests and only do occasional reviews of books that sound like I’m going to like them. That’s how I came to review Facebook Fairytales, and like the other books I’ve received to review, I’m pleased that it did not disappoint me.
March 11th
Lauretti Announces Support for CEP
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 21:04Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, who reportedly has been considering a run for Governor in Connecticut has now come out in support of CEP. “People have been complaining about the CEP, claiming that it limits amounts that people contribute, has complicated filing requirements and prohibits state contractors from contributing,” Lauretti has reportedly said. “However, with a Contractor’s Election Program, there is no limit to what people can contribute. There are no filing requirements; in fact any public acknowledgement of receiving funds from contractors is strongly discouraged, and state contractors are encouraged to participate.”
When asked if he thought participating in the Contractor’s Election Program instead of the Citizen’s Election Program might land him in hot water, Lauretti reportedly said, “As long as I can turn up the jets, and sit back and relax and enjoy a good cigar, I wouldn’t mind being in hot water.” Shelton developer James Botti supported the Lauretti’s plans, but former Governor John Rowland was not available for comments on whether or not he would be advising the Lauretti campaign.
NOTE: The preceding fictionalized statements are intended as political satire to illustrate points about the need for clean elections in Connecticut.
The Debate about Municipal Elections
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 16:14In a year of fiscal challenges, lawmakers in Hartford are again considering changing state statutes to require municipalities to hold their local elections in November, instead of May or November which current statutes allow. Woodbridge is one of five towns that still hold local elections in May. The Secretary of State’s office supports the proposed measure and has testified in previous years that such a change would produce savings for the cash strapped government in Hartford. In addition, many believe such a change would increase voter participation in municipal elections.
Residents of Woodbridge, concerned with finding ways to help the state government have contacted State Representative Themis Klarides requesting that municipal elections be held statewide in November. This was communicated to the Government Administration and Elections Committee and had been inserted as section 40 of Raised Bill No. 421. Unfortunately, the language was specific to Woodbridge, instead of to all five municipalities holding local elections in May, and without it being applied to all towns, the expected cost savings are less likely to be realized.
A local newspaper report stated
Local residents are wondering why Slossberg and her committee would attempt to interfere with local governance and practices that have prevailed for two hundred years...[and] why the state would have a vested interest in when Woodbridge conducts its municipal elections.
To the extent that the state has oversight over local and regional activities and must incur the cost of that oversight, it seems clear that it should have a vested interested in local activities. A recent related example is the consolidation of probate courts across the state.
Local residents and reporters who wonder why things happen the way they do in Hartford are encouraged to contact their state legislators. Our state legislators are responsive and eager to explain what is being considered in Hartford.
News 12 is now reporting that Sen. Slossberg has bowed to the complaints of a few vocal residents and removed these cost saving measures.
(Originally posted at the Woodbridge Citizen.)
