Connecticut
Post posts about what is happening in the State of Connecticut.
Even in Death, Forming a More Perfect Union
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 07/07/2012 - 07:14It was a beautiful hot summer morning. The white clouds had piled up in the deep blue sky without a threatening tint of grey yet. The songbirds added their commentary as flies buzzed nearly and in the distance a lawn crew started their buzzing machines.
A large group of people gathered in the carefully manicured grass next to a gaping hole in the ground. The crowd was filled with dignitaries. The Lt. Governor, a former Lt. Governor. a former Secretary of the State, and a former State Senator who was now the head of the state Democratic Party. There was a State Representative, many activists and far more that I did not recognize.
My mind drifted to that great quote from the movie Norma Rae.
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
Yes, the union was there. There may have been representatives of one local or another, but it was the more perfect union that was there. These were people who had worked side by side
to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
It's how I had met Win, the mourning husband, as well as many of the others gathered to note the passing of his wife.
Traditions were observed and family members spoke. A woman sang a show tune from South Pacific that she had often sung with now deceased sister.
Dites-moi Pourquoi La vie est belle. Dies-moi Pourquoi La vie est gai, Dites-moi Pourquoi, Chere Mad'moiselle, Est-ce que Parce que Vous m'aimez?
Why is life beautiful and gay? Because of the love we have for one another; even in death.
There were the comments about the different deaths. The death of the body and the death of being forgotten. Carol was well remember at the service and my mind went to "Samuel Mendelsson: A Man Who Must Not Be Forgotten". It is a book about a man who died in the holocaust which was given to me by his great granddaughter.
The Kaddish was recited and my thoughts went to Allen Ginsburg's poem of the same name
Strange now to think of you, gone without corsets & eyes, while I walk on
the sunny pavement of Greenwich Village….
We formed two lines as the mourners passed between us, on their way back to their daily lives. But first, we all gathered for food. As one friend once said to me, all of Jewish history can be summed up in the phrase, "We faced great odds. We prevailed. Let's eat."
So as we ate, we talked about the great odds we continue to face in forming a more perfect union, the struggles for justice and domestic tranquility, and how we can best promote the general welfare.
Rest in Peace, Carol. Your life is well reflected in your loving husband, siblings and children.
Discovering Derby
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 06/16/2012 - 08:21Though I live in Woodbridge, Derby too often has been a city to drive through on my way to Beardsley's Cider Mill or Jones Farms. I've stopped from time to time at the Home Depot in Derby, but a Home Depot looks like a Home Depot just about anywhere. Yet now that I'm running for State Representative in a district that includes some of Derby, I really need to get to know the city a little bit better.
I must admit, it feels strange to call Derby a city. In terms of municipal organization, it's a city, but it is Connecticut's smallest city and has the feeling of a small town. Back in 2000, Derby was an "All-America City" winner. When I was younger, I lived in Williamstown, Mass, which is right next to North Adams which was an "All-America City" winner in my youth.
With this, my trip into Derby on Thursday felt very familiar. I stopped to speak at the Derby Democratic Town Committee in the basement of the Elks Lodge. Afterwards, I went up stairs and had a drink with some of the town committee members. They talked about the JC Penney that used to be in Derby and the Rambler dealership. Hopefully, I remember the places properly.
One of the key things we were talking about was when people used to shop where they lived. I remember going to stores when I was a kid, where you knew the owner of the store. The store owners knew that if they treated people poorly, they wouldn't hear the end of it, whether it be at church, at Little League, at the Memorial Day parade, or some event at the school.
In my youth up in Massachusetts, I used to go to local grocers like McNichol's and Eddie's Market. Those stores are gone, like their counterparts around the country are gone. I miss them. But it isn't enough to be nostalgic for an old grocery store that is now gone. Instead, we need to be working together to find ways to bring small locally owned businesses back. We need to highlight and promote our local businesses.
I don't know the businesses in Derby very well yet, but it is something I look forward to doing. I'll start off with the visit to Derby Day today. It looks like it should be a good day, and I hope a lot of people will turn out. I hope I'll get to meet a lot of folks from Derby and find out about the hidden gems that we should be telling friends about. Join me in discovering Derby.
School's Illusions
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 22:10It's been a busy few days, and I'm behind on my blogging, but I did get a chance to write the following post this evening, which I've also shared at the Bethwood Patch.
As I scanned Facebook this evening, I found a picture that one of my elementary school classmates posted of her first grade class. I was in a different class, but I recognized many names of long time dear friends. It was a grainy black and white picture of the kids standing on the school steps.
One person commented, "Everyone looks so cute! Remember when girls couldn't wear pants to school? I think we were in 5th or 6th grade when this rule changed." It was a different time and a different town. A small town of less than ten thousand, where a lot of college professors lived. It was a town that helped shape who I am today.
Then, I stumbled across some pictures of a friend that I got to know right after college. We went to the same church in New York City, a church where many of the young parishioners went on to become priests. For some, it was a fairly quick journey, for others it took many years. My friend was one who took a longer, more circuitous route to the priesthood. She was up in Hartford celebrating the Ordination to the Sacred Order of Deacons where another friend from church in New York was being ordained.
The pictures of the bishops and the ordinands in their fresh scrubbed faces, most likely just out of divinity school added to my rosy thoughts about education.
All of this set an interesting contrast to my experiences Monday night when I went to the Amity Board of Education meeting. I went to speak about my opposition to using police dogs to search students for drugs. Yes, there were drugs at my high school thirty five years ago, and I'm sure there are drugs at Amity, but somehow, the experiences were radically different.
High school is a very difficult time for many people. My high school classmates have shared reflections back on those days, "the tears and fears and feeling proud, to say I love you right out loud" at a school dance. "The moons and Junes and circus clouds." Yes, I sang "Both Sides Now" with my school chorus.
In many ways, the public comments at the Amity Board of Education focused on keeping our children safe from drugs, their right to go to a drug free school, where school policies were not considered a joke, and where there wasn't peer pressure to try drugs. The other side of the public comment focused on the students civil rights to not be subject to unwarranted searches, and the efficacy on using police dogs to curb drug use at the high school.
If I honestly believed that using police dogs would prevent drugs from being at the school, would cause students not to view school policies as a joke, and would eliminate the peer pressure to use drugs, that I'm sure exists at Amity today, like it did at my high school thirty five years ago, I might be more inclined to support the opinion of those that would like to see broader use of police dogs at the school. However, I don't believe that would be the result, if anything, I fear the opposite result. Students will still find ways to use drugs. They will still heap scorn on school polices, and they will still pressure classmates to engage in dangerous and illegal activities.
Yet returning to Both Sides Now, it's school's illusions I recall. I remember best, things like singing in the choir, playing in the band, being in musicals. I never was particularly talented, but I had the chance to participate in something beautiful, something bigger than myself.
My high school always had students going to All State for one reason or another. I had some incredibly talented friends and classmates, and that is what I'm most happy to remember. The Amity Board of Education meeting started off recognizing great teachers, and incredibly talented students at the high school. It ended with the board voting to approve setting aside money for building a black box theatre at the school. It struck me that those who pushed hardest to expand the use of police dogs at the school were also the ones who showed the most resistance to supporting the black box theatre. Perhaps, this too, reflects both sides of school.
I savor my positive memories of high school, the school's illusions of talent young students with a great life ahead of them, as opposed to a view of students as suspected drug users on the road to ruin. I hope our school board remembers this part of high school and seeks positive ways to help the students reach their dreams, whether they need help with substance abuse issues, or hitting the high note on Broadway.
The Patch State Legislative Debates
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 06/06/2012 - 21:47Below is a blog post that I have submitted to the Bethwood Patch. I've also modified it slightly as a post to the Orange Patch. In true political style, I'm claiming victory in the first debate on Patch and I look forward to many more.
When I accepted the Democratic Nomination for State Representative in the 114th Assembly District here I Connecticut, I talked about how I'm not running against the Republican incumbent. I'm running against apathy. I'm running to get people more involved in their communities, both politically, and in terms of community service. I'm running against an intellectual apathy where people don't know who their State Representative is or what is happening up in Hartford.
When I was asked to start blogging on the Bethwood Patch, I hesitated. I've been maintaining my personal blog for eight years. I'm writing on a health care blog for my work. I didn't need another outlet for my writings.
On the other hand, I recognized the benefit that blogging might bring to me as a State Representative candidate seeking to get more people involved. The Bethwood Patch could be a great platform to stimulate debate.
Well, this week, my opponent has started to blog on the Bethwood Patch. I'm very excited and view it is a small victory for my campaign. I am managing to get others more involved and more informed, if simply by getting my opponent to post here.
I look forward to her sharing posts where she talks about her views on the issues and what she has done for the people of Woodbridge, Orange and Derby. I look forward to her allowing comments on the posts so that we can have an open, honest, and friendly discussion about the issues that should matter to all of us in this district.
It would be great of the 114th Assembly District could set an example for other districts where there would be an ongoing friendly discussion about the issues between the candidates for office.
Let's start off with a friendly welcome to my opponent for State Representative.
Follow the Money
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 06/03/2012 - 20:05One of the most memorable lines from Watergate was "Follow the Money", and I've been looking a lot at various donations recently. As a newly minted State Representative candidate, I need to raise $5,000 in donations between $5 and $100, with at least 150 of the donations coming from people living in Woodbridge, Orange, and Derby, the towns that my district includes parts of.
This is part of Connecticuts Citizen's Election Program. If I raise money from these sources, I will receive a grant from the state to finance much of my campaign. The program is designed to limit the influence of money in politics and make it easier for more people to run for political office. I'm a big supporter of this program.
One of the biggest supporters of this program is Chris Donovan, who is running for Congress in the Fifth Congressional District. Unfortunately, he hired a finance director who didn't seem to share those values and who has now been arrested by the FBI for trying to hide donations.
Governor Malloy has spoken out about how despicable this was, and I hope that the Governor will back up his words with actions by signing the "Act Concerning Changes to Campaign Finance and Other Election Laws" which would make it illegal for organizations to hide independent campaign expenditures in Connecticut elections. This bill was introduced by Chris Donovan.
I've encouraged people to contribute to Chris Donovan's campaign, and I continue to do so. One of the old lines about free speech is that the antidote to "bad" free speech, isn't limiting free speech, instead it is counterbalancing it with more "good" free speech. Something similar applies in campaigns. An important antidote to people illegally trying to buy influence in politics if for individuals to become more involved in campaigns, giving of their time and money.
There are other parts of our lives where small donations can have an important effect. As an example, one of the doctors where I work will be running in the New York City Triathlon next month. He is doing it to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
When I visited his fundraising page, I glanced at the list of donors in the right hand column. I was glad to see the names of several of my coworkers on this list, as well as some of my social media friends.
Money can be a corrosive influence in politics, but it can also be a tool for good, and I'm glad to see my coworkers and social media friends working together for good.
Please, think about how you can use your money for good.
