Free Republic

Spat Over 'Muslim Terrorists' Halts 9/11 Marker Dad of one victim wants those words on it; town says not on public property Ruth Epstein, a first selectman in Kent, Conn., says that to add "Muslim terrorists" to a planned 9/11 memorial would be disparaging towards Muslims. Nov . 7, 2009 HARTFORD, Conn. - A memorial to honor a Sept. 11 victim from a small northwestern Connecticut town has been halted by the unexpected conflict arising from his father's insistence it say his son was murdered by "Muslim terrorists." Town officials in Kent are balking, saying it would be inappropriate to...

HARTFORD, Conn. - An effort to honor a Sept. 11 victim in the small Connecticut town of Kent has unexpectedly became a contentious debate. That’s because the victim’s father has insisted his son’s memorial say he was murdered by "Muslim terrorists." Town officials say it would be inappropriate to single out a religious group on a project on town property that’s paid for with taxpayers’ money. The memorial is on indefinite hold.

It is protest day, for the Left and the Right, on Capitol Hill. First out of the gate - 9 Protesters backing a universal health care system briefly occupied Sen. Joe Lieberman's office this morning. Protesters were arrested, one by one, and dragged out of his office amid chants of "Everyone in and noone out, universal healthcare now!" and "Represent Connecticut, not AETNA!"

Hartford (WTNH) - Ned Lamont may be hitting the campaign trail sooner than expected. "I'm in the exploratory phase for statewide office as the lawyers have explained to me," Lamont said. Lamont says he's been considering a run for governor for a year and doesn't care if the popular incumbent Republican runs for another term or not. "Governor Rell's going to do what she's going to do but at the end of the day you need a stronger hand at the tiller. I mean this state's in trouble. Read that Moody's report that just came out. They gave us a...

After pumping more than $1 million into an upstate New York House race to elect the Conservative Party’s Doug Hoffman, the Club for Growth is on the hunt again. Chris Chocola, president of the conservative political action committee, made it clear the PAC is looking for more GOP targets who don’t embrace the Club’s limited-government approach. Priority No. 1 is likely to be the Senate contest in Florida, where Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who embraced President Barack Obama’s stimulus package, is being challenged by former State House Speaker Marco Rubio. . . . . . Beyond Florida, other establishment Republicans...

In what could be a nightmare scenario for Republican Party officials, conservative activists are gearing up to challenge leading GOP candidates in more than a dozen key House and Senate races in 2010. Conservatives and tea party activists had already set their sights on some of the GOP’s top Senate recruits — a list that includes Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida, former Rep. Rob Simmons in Connecticut and Rep. Mark Kirk in Illinois, among others. But their success in Tuesday’s upstate New York special election, where grass-roots efforts pushed GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava to drop out of the race and...

New York beef manufacturer Fairbanks Farms has issued a voluntary recall of a little more than half a million pounds of ground beef. The recall, which affects states from Maine to North Carolina -- Maryland included -- comes after one person died in New Hampshire and people were sickened in other states after eating beef thought to be contaminated by the bacteria E.coli. The products, which include ground beef, meatloaf and meatball mix, carry sell-by dates from Sept. 19-28 and were sold under such brands as Trader Joe's Butcher Shop Fine Quality Meats, Giant Meatloaf & Meatball Mix and BJ's...

Sen. Joe Lieberman has reached a private understanding with Majority Leader Harry Reid that he will not block a final vote on healthcare reform, according to two sources briefed on the matter. The unpredictable Democrat-turned-Independent last week publicly stated he would join Republicans in filibustering the Democratic legislation after Reid (D-Nev.) announced he had included a government-run health insurance plan in the bill. But sources said Reid’s staff is telling liberal interest groups that Lieberman (Conn.) has assured Reid he will vote with Democrats in the necessary procedural vote to end debate, perhaps with intentions to change the bill. “Lieberman...

As you may have heard, erstwhile Democrat Joe Lieberman has vowed to support a Republican filibuster of any health care bill containing the dreaded "public option." Politicians and those who write about them spent the week scratching their heads, struggling to divine his motives. Perhaps I can help. First, toss out any theory connecting Lieberman's action to concern for health care policy. We infer this not only from the breathtaking opportunism of his late career but from the stunning ignorance on display in his remarks on the filibuster. Surely, a man operating on principle would suffer to learn the facts....

Is there a more hypocritical figure in American politics than Joe Lieberman? The Connecticut senator declared Tuesday that he would support a filibuster of any health care reform bill that has a public option - even the version with the "trigger" compromise accepted by Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe - because it might cost money. "I think that a lot of people may think that the public option is free," said Lieberman, one of the Senate's big spenders, in a suddenly frugal mood. "It's not. It's going to cost the taxpayers and people that have health insurance now, and if it...

Yet another example of the folly of assigning liberals to guard duty. Joining Rachel Maddow on her MSNBC show Thursday to vent about that pesky wabbit Joe Lieberman was Fire Dog Lake blogger Jane Hamsher. Democrats wield considerable leverage over Lieberman, Hamsher opined, to keep him from joining a GOP filibuster of ObamaCare or punish him if he does -- MADDOW: ... I think you’re right to point out that other senators sort of gently expressing their disapproval of his proverbial toplessness at this point is a bigger deal than it would be in the real world, that their words...

Back be popular demand, Jim Vicevich's famous last 30 minutes RANT. … so here it is. I’m off in a cubical somewhere trying to determine why a Web server won’t behave and my cell phone starts buzzing, and buzzing, and buzzing. I see tons of e-mails with keywords like rant, go Jim, and YES! – Here is the audio … There may also have been something about a thrown water bottle, but I have no idea what was going on during that last 30 minutes… Mr. Joyce captured the audio, so here it is …

NAUGATUCK, Conn. (AP) — Naugatuck police say they’re searching for a woman who was running an illegal dentist’s practice in her apartment. Police say they found used syringes and other unsanitary medical items in the woman’s one-room apartment, but they haven’t received any complaints from her patients. Authorities say the suspect is a Brazilian woman, but they’re not releasing her name. They’re asking her patients to call the police department. Police are working with state health officials to determine whether criminal or civil charges are warranted. They say the woman was apparently serving illegal immigrants who didn’t have insurance and...

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), already under fire from the Democratic party’s base for vocally opposing the public option in health care legislation, now tells ABC News that he plans to support Republican congressional candidates next year: "I probably will support some Republican candidates for Congress or Senate in the election in 2010. I'm going to call them as I see them," Lieberman said in an ABC News "Subway Series" interview aboard the U.S. Capitol Subway System. "There's a hard core of partisan, passionate, hardcore Republicans," Lieberman said. "There's a hard core of partisan Democrats on the other side. And in...

Lieberman: "I'm going to call them as I see them."

Sounding more like an independent than a Democrat, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., tells ABC News he will campaign for some Republican candidates during the 2010 midterm elections and may not seek the Democratic Senate nomination when he runs for re-election in 2012. "I probably will support some Republican candidates for Congress or Senate in the election in 2010. I'm going to call them as I see them," Lieberman said in an ABC News "Subway Series" interview aboard the U.S. Capitol Subway System

New Haven, increasingly a model city for the state, is about to begin an education experiment that could lead school reform efforts around the nation. Teachers will be evaluated, at least in part, on how well students perform. Classroom teachers who struggle will be asssisted and bad ones may be given the boot. It's also possible teachers will get bonus pay if students perform well. Failing schools may close and new ones could open. The union will not be able to block school reforms. And teachers, for a change, will play an active part in making decisions. This isn't just...

Sounding more like an independent than a Democrat, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., tells ABC News he will campaign for some Republican candidates during the 2010 midterm elections and may not seek the Democratic Senate nomination when he runs for re-election in 2012. "I probably will support some Republican candidates for Congress or Senate in the election in 2010. I'm going to call them as I see them," Lieberman said in an ABC News "Subway Series" interview aboard the U.S. Capitol Subway System. Lieberman infuriated fellow Democrats in 2008 by supporting Republican presidential nominee John McCain as well as congressional candidates...

New Haven (WTNH) - Some schools are giving students the opportunity to learn how to speak Arabic and it seems that many are taking a liking to it. The word "bedeel" means "options" in Arabic and that's exactly what Chris George, with the Integrated Refugee and Immigrants Services in New Haven, wants students to have. "Languages are more important now, we need to globalize this country, we need to internationalize this country if we're going to compete," said George. Arabic is now listed among the top languages that the State Department recommends that children learn. But only a few select...

New Haven (AP) - Ten New Haven residents have filed a lawsuit accusing federal authorities of violating their rights by conducting an immigration raid in retaliation for a New Haven program that provided ID cards to foreigners in the country illegally. The sweeps in New Haven on June 6, 2007, came two days after the city approved issuing identification cards to all city residents, regardless of immigration status. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials deny the early morning raids were retaliatory, saying planning began the year before. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court, cites e-mails between federal officials that...

STORRS, Conn. -- Two of three people charged in connection with the stabbing death of UConn football player Jasper Howard are scheduled to face a judge Wednesday. John Lomax, 21, of Bloomfield, Hakim Muhammed, 20, of Bloomfield, and Jama Todd, 21, of Hartford, were arrested Tuesday in connection with Howard's death.

The health-care debate isn't over, notwithstanding the White House-Nancy Pelosi attempt to make it seem inevitable. Majority Leader Harry Reid had barely announced his plan to include a public insurance option when Connecticut Independent Joe Lieberman declared yesterday that he'd join a filibuster against such a Senate bill. "We're trying to do too much at once," Mr. Lieberman said. "To put this government-created insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt. I don't think we need it now."

How enraged is Keith Olbermann with Joe Lieberman for announcing that he would filibuster a health care bill that contains a government-control provision? Enough that, without presenting any evidence whatsoever, the Countdown host has slyly implied that Lieberman might be on the take from insurance companies in his home state of Connecticut. You had to listen carefully, but Olbermann slipped the scurrilous suggestion into his diatribe against Liebermann on tonight's Countdown. Here was Olbermann . . . View video here.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid addressed a development, first reported by TPMDC, that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will filibuster a health care bill if it includes a public option. "Joe Lieberman is the least of Harry Reid's problems," Reid told reporters at his weekly press conference. During a Q&A session with reporters, Reid offered a fairly spirited defense of Lieberman, signaling perhaps that he doesn't believe Lieberman will ultimately be an obstacle--or at least that he doesn't want to tip his hat: "I don't have anyone that I've worked harder with, have more respect for, in the Senate than Joe...

An attorney for a Bloomfield man said Tuesday that his client has been charged with murder in connection with the death of UConn football player Jasper Howard. Attorney Deron Freeman said his client, John William Lomax, was charged Tuesday morning with murder in connection with Howard's death. Freeman maintained his client's innocence in Howard's death.

NEW HAVEN — Bringing an African-American-run bank to the city is part of the next frontier for the Greater New Haven branch of the NAACP in its efforts to bring economic stability and prosperity to the urban community, said branch president James E. Rawlings. “Most banks here are national banks with no local flavor,” Rawlings said. “We need a bank more in line with the needs of urban America.” Rawlings cemented the goal following an NAACP economic summit Oct. 17 and has a bank in mind: Carver Federal Savings Bank, now with several branches in New York City. Among the...

Money talks. Wasn’t there, don’t know, didn’t have the grand to buy my way in. But that’s what is being reported today. At a $1000 a plate they were hoping to raise a cool mil from, ummm, uhhh, bankers and hedge fund managers. “We came very close to a Great Depression,” he said, adding that the United States must never again be so close to disaster because of the action of reckless investors. “Join us, don’t fight us,” said Obama, singling out the financial executives in the room. “Join us in passing what are necessary reforms. It is important for...

University of Connecticut police say witnesses to the killing of football player Jasper Howard are being threatened with violence if they come forward with evidence. Maj. Ronald Blicher tells the student newspaper, The Daily Campus, that the threats are being made in Internet postings and police are looking into them. He says authorities are still urging people to submit videos, photos or other information. Howard, a Miami native and starting cornerback for the Huskies, was stabbed outside a university-sanctioned dance early Sunday, hours after helping his team to a homecoming game win over Louisville. A 21-year-old Hartford man, Johnny Hood,...

Do you put up a holiday tree or a Christmas tree?

Are we seeing the begining of the food police? Please. Stop. Just stop it. I’m not stupid. I know me Lucky Charms are not magic. I know Frosted Flakes are not …”Greaaaat” for you. I know Count Chocula isn’t a real monster and Tricks aren’t just for kids. Stop it pleaseeeeee. The federal government is wading into the supermarket aisle, making its first effort to provide better nutritional information on food products since it developed the black-and-white Nutrition Facts label 15 years ago.

House Democrats Lock GOP Out of Committee Room A bitter divide over Countrywide mortgage scandal. By JAMES FREEMAN Democratic staff for the House oversight committee informed their GOP counterparts today that the majority has changed the locks on the committee's hearing room. While Republicans previously enjoyed their own key to the room, they will now have to request access from Democrats. This followed a bitter partisan argument in which Republicans refused to take down a video from their website that contradicted Dem explanations about a closed-door meeting on the Countrywide VIP loan scandal. As we reported last week, the committee...

WATERBURY — Money manager Peter Schiff got a pass Tuesday from state Sen. Sam S.F. Caligiuri, R-Waterbury, only because nothing blameworthy came immediately to Caligiuri's mind. Caligiuri slammed every other rival for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate — as well as Democratic incumbent Christopher J. Dodd — during a morning news conference at Waterbury City Hall. "Peter Schiff, I don't know what he is doing in this race, and it remains to be seen what he is going to do and what he is going to be focusing on," Caligiuri said. He had plenty to say about the rest...

What the President Obama "stimulus" money created in the way of jobs in just one state, CT, as an example. Honestly I am not kidding … 20 jobs. Just to review: * $780 billion dollars in stimulus money, approved by Congress in February * Connecticut is awarded $47 million (hey we’re small state) * Connecticut has received through September $1 million * Total jobs created … 20. Yup, 20. But please, don’t take my word for it … straight from Recovery.gov . Click to enlarge......

STORRS, Conn. - A University of Connecticut football player has died following an on-campus stabbing, hours after the team’s victory over Louisville. Twenty-year-old Jasper Howard of Miami, a junior and starting cornerback, was stabbed during a fight early Sunday. His death was confirmed to The Associated Press by an administration official who requested anonymity because of the police investigation.

UConn Football Player Killed After On-Campus Stabbing Sunday, October 18, 2009 Jasper Howard The starting cornerback for the University of Connecticut football team died on Sunday after an on-campus stabbing just hours after the team's victory over Louisville, FOX61 reported. Jasper Howard The starting cornerback for the University of Connecticut football team died on Sunday after an on-campus stabbing just hours after the team's victory over Louisville, FOX61 reported. Jasper Howard, 20, was airlifted to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, FOX61 reported. Howard was reportedly stabbed near the university’s student union at the center of campus at...

If you think moderate Democrats are afraid of voting for ObamaCare, you should see how they react to a potential vote on the Countrywide Financial loan scandal. The House oversight committee was scheduled to meet on Thursday afternoon to mark up several minor pieces of legislation. Days before the meeting, California Republican Darrell Issa notified committee Chairman Edolphus Towns that Mr. Issa would call for a vote to subpoena Countrywide documents from Bank of America, which bought the failed subprime lender last year. Recall that, under the "Friends of Angelo" program, named for former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo, Democratic Senators...

New Haven (WTNH) - An African American New Haven firefighter has filed a federal lawsuit against the city over a promotion test. It's the first such suit following last summer's Supreme Court ruling which said city leaders were wrong to scrap the 2,000 test results because too few minorities would have been promoted. They're called the "New Haven 20" -- mostly white firefighters who sued for discrimination after the city threw out the results of a 2003 promotion exam. A landmark Supreme Court decision in June ruled in the firefighters favor. Now, an African-American firefighter, Michael Briscoe, is taking his...

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday he will not support the healthcare bill set for a vote today in the Senate Finance Committee. Though Lieberman is not a member of the 23-member committee that is set to approve the preliminary legislation crafted by Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the Connecticut independent is one of a handful of key Senate centrists who are shaping the fate of health reform this year. "No, not the way it is now," Lieberman said during an appearance on "Imus in the Morning" on the Fox Business Network this morning when asked if he could support the...

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday he will not support the healthcare bill set for a vote today in the Senate Finance Committee. Though Lieberman is not a member of the 23-member committee that is set to approve the preliminary legislation crafted by Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the Connecticut independent is one of a handful of key Senate centrists who are shaping the fate of health reform this year. "No, not the way it is now," Lieberman said during an appearance on "Imus in the Morning" on the Fox Business Network this morning when asked if he could support the...

ERNON - A man dressed as a ninja waving nunchucks on a street corner this morning was arrested and charged with breach of peace, police said. Police said they received numerous emergency calls about the man, who was standing on the corner of Route 83 and Regan Road at about 11 a.m. Police said Garland Eastman, 30, of 335 Center Road, was yelling about wanting to beat up U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, among other diatribes, but he became polite and cooperative after officers started pulling out their bean bags and taser guns. He was released to Rockville General Hospital for...

Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) is ready to re-start a debate over domestic benefits to gay federal employees and their spouses. Lieberman told The Hill he hopes to push a bill onto the Senate floor by the end of the year that would grant the same benefits to gay federal employees and their spouses as given any married federal employee and their spouse. Benefits include federal health insurance, enhanced dental and vision care, retirement and disability provisions and life insurance and benefits in cases of death or disability. Members of the military would be excluded. Lieberman said he expects to hold...

(snip) "Every idea is on the table," said Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.), the lead sponsor of Senate climate legislation. "We're going to work in a bona fide way with everybody to see how to bridge a gap here. We've got to get a 60-vote margin. That means you've got to legislate, which means you have to compromise." Several moderate Senate Republicans, including John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said they are in talks with Kerry and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) on the nuclear language, as well as other key issues."A guy like Senator Kerry...

 Free-market Peter Schiff, who runs Euro Pacific Capital. He is now a potential Republican challenger to Sen. Chris Dodd in 2010.“I'm interrupting my career. It's not like I want my new career in politics. But I'm willing to interrupt it the same way that somebody interrupted their career and joined World War II and went off to fight the Nazis. I don't think that I'm that heroic, and I don't think I'm risking as much as a soldier. But it's the same principle,” Schiff said  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkBRmty7fKc 

SNIPPET: "NEW HAVEN — A 38-year-old man arrested after police discovered a pipe bomb, shotguns, gas masks and other items inside his Mercedes late Tuesday was arrested earlier this year on bombmaking charges in East Haven. John Iannucci was held at New Haven police headquarters for most of the day on a host of weapons and explosives charges. The arrest could likely complicate the situation on his current court case. He is due to appear in court on Oct. 22 on the East Haven charges of illegal possession of explosives and illegal bomb manufacturing. He was free on $25,000 bail...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Police stopped a motorist driving a car full of explosives in Connecticut late Tuesday, FOX 61 reported. Police said the car was carrying pipe bombs, rifles and a propane tank when they found it in New Haven at 11:30 p.m.

Peter Schiff's day job is running Euro Pacific Capital, a Connecticut-based investment fund. But he's better known as the guy who called the housing collapse and recession back in 2006. Schiff, a hard-core free-marketeer and an adviser to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) during his 2008 presidential run, now moonlights as a cable news analyst and has become a YouTube fixture, thanks to the "Peter Schiff Was Right" mashups of his predictions. His latest job: seeking the Republican nomination to run against Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the banking committee. Washington Post business reporter Frank Ahrens spoke with Schiff about...

The latest Quinnipiac Poll is out and it’s more bad news for Sen. Chris Dodd. Despite a public relations blitz that had him returning to Connecticut for what seems like the first time in years, and a statewide email and choreographed “shout out” from President Obama in the Rose Garden, (Rob Simmons) is still leading Dodd 45%-39%.

Send Correction Plainfield — An animal control officer was injured late Tuesday night when a pit bull lunged at her and knocked her to the ground. Animal Control Officer Theresa Foss, a 17-year veteran, responded to the call at the Roberts' residence at 270 Green Hollow Road about 10:48 p.m. after it was reported the dog would not let a resident exit the house. The dog alternated from the front and rear doors of the house, police said. The dog does not belong to the Roberts. The dog is described as a pit bull, white in color with some brown...

Do you support sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan?

FAIRFIELD — - Standing in a commuter parking lot just off the Merritt Parkway Monday, Vice President Joe Biden spoke of the impact that stimulus spending is having on communities across the state. It wasn't a partisan rally — campaign signs were strictly forbidden, and since the subject was policy, not politics, Biden's appearance wasn't funded by the candidates — but the vice president nevertheless found a few moments to praise two of of the state's Democrats in Washington.