Free Republic

A hiring lawyer from Greenwich, Conn., wrote to The Ethicist of the New York Times with this question: Is it ethical to recommend rejection of members of the Federalist Society simply because you disagree with their conservative politics? The Ethicist, Randy Cohen, said politics should not be a factor.... The lawyer, who made recommendations on summer and full-time associates, had noted the review was intended to take account of judgment and personality. The Ethicist countered that reasonable people differ over politics. “I am tempted to believe that those whose politics differ from mine lack ‘judgment and personality’ and taste in...

HARTFORD, Conn.—Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts says the city is a bit safer after citizens turned in 78 unwanted firearms during a gun buy-back program last weekend. Police say people turned in handguns, rifles, numerous rounds of ammunition and gun magazines. All the weapons will be destroyed, unless forensic tests show they were used in crimes. The program offered a $75 gift card for a semiautomatic weapon, $50 gift card for a revolver and a $25 gift card for a shotgun or rifle. It was a joint effort by police, Hartford Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Connecticut Children's...

Speaking of the Connecticut primary, past positions may come back to haunt Rob Simmons in the Republican primary against Linda McMahon. Mr. Simmons has modeled himself as a movement conservative, even brandishing tea bags and a copy of his pocket Constitution during stump speeches, but his voting record as a member of Congress will give the 'tea party' crowd pause. As a member of Congress, Mr. Simmons was a co-sponsor of the House's "cap and trade" bill and the Employee Free Choice Act, called "card check" by its opponents. These two pieces of legislation are vehemently opposed by the free-marketeers...

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Connecticut now finds Dodd attracting just 35% to 40% of the vote against three possible Republican challengers. Former GOP Congressman Rob Simmons is still his toughest opponent, leading Dodd 48% to 35%. Seven percent (7%) prefer some other candidate in this contest, and 11% are undecided. Those figures are a slight improvement for Simmons since September. The newest Republican in the race, Linda McMahon, the ex-CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, earns 44% of the vote to Dodd’s 38%. Eight percent (8%) opt for another candidate, with nine percent (9%) not sure. Long-shot candidate...

NEW HAVEN — Attorneys for a group of black city firefighters Monday filed a motion asking a federal court to halt the promotion of 10 other firefighters (including four minorities) who scored well enough on 2003 exams to be promoted. The 10 firefighters’ advancements were approved Friday by the Board of Fire Commissioners, just three days after the board ratified the promotions of 14 other firefighters (all but one of them white) mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ricci v. DeStefano. The 10 in question scored high enough on the test to be promoted, but weren’t plaintiffs with...

The 2010 election is still almost a year away, and as they say, a lot could happen. But if the Stupid Party doesn't mess up the "Dump Dodd" movement, Connecticut will have a new U.S. senator come January 2011. But even in defeat, corrupt Democrat Christopher Dodd would be a big winner because he voted many times to make it so. Besides a career's worth of dirty wealth he has amassed — the Irish cottage, the real-estate equity enhanced by sweetheart mortgages, the money he saved touring the globe in special-interest and taxpayer-funded junkets and God know what else —...

Although housing subdivisions have overtaken much of the surrounding area, there's still a stretch of land along the Farmington River stretching from Avon into Farmington that evokes Connecticut's agrarian past. On one side of the road, expansive fields dotted with grazing cows run down to the river. On the other is a modest, white house with red barns and a silo, all part of a 400-acre spread straddling the two towns known locally as Fisher Farm. The property has been a farm for generations. For years it was owned by Theodate Pope Riddle, the pioneering woman architect and founder of...

Sen. Lindsey Graham may be under fire from conservatives back home in South Carolina. But the Republican got a personal assurance from President Obama yesterday that the White House is supporting his efforts to craft a sweeping Senate energy and global warming bill. “The president told me personally he was very open, that nuclear power would be part of the mix, that clean coal would be part of the mix, that he’s for offshore drilling in a responsible way,” Graham said today in describing his Oval Office meeting with Obama. “But we have to have a price on carbon,...

The 8th Virginia Class nuclear attack submarine is getting commissioned today.

West Haven (WTNH) - A West Haven landlord is on probation and will have to pay a fine after he changed the locks on a tenant who was on active duty overseas with the U.S. Marine Corps. Lawrence Manware, 42, of West Haven was sentenced Wednesday afternoon to one year of probation. Manware was found guilty in November after being accused of changing the locks and placing a new tenant in the apartment he had been currently renting to the Marine. When the Marine returned home from overseas he found out that his landlord was moving a new tenant into...

Eminent Domain: Four years after the Supreme Court told a Connecticut homeowner that no one's house is safe from developers, Brooklyn homeowners may lose their homes to a pro basketball team. On June 3, 2005, by a 5-4 margin, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively repealed the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, deciding that your constitutional right to be secure in your home didn't matter if your state or community decided your property could produce more revenue as a shopping mall or condominium development. Pfizer coveted Susette Kelo's working-class neighborhood for an office park and condominium complex. The city fathers...

NEW BRITAIN (CT) — City educators and social service providers are battling an onslaught of frightening statics — only 10 percent of kindergarteners were considered fully ready by their teachers, roughly 60 percent of households don’t speak English as its primary language, 26 percent of adults are functionally illiterate. But two solid years of hard work have given birth to a blueprint that its drafters hope will address those ills and impact the lives of the city’s young children for the better. A coalition of city leaders, educators, health care providers and community organizers spearheaded by the New Britain Discovery...

If you are fed up with Barack Obama and Eric Holder’s constant attacks on what is good and right about America come to New York City’s Foley Square Federal Courthouse on this Saturday December 5, 2009 at 12 noon and let your voice be heard. The “Stop The Terror Trial in NYC Rally” is being sponsored by TEA Party 365 and the 9/11 Never Forget Coalition. Those on hand beside the 9/11 Families will be brother and sister New York City Firefighters and Police Officers representing the 343 Firefighters and 40 Police Officers who died that day. Moreover there will...

CVS Caremark Corp., operator of more than 7,000 drugstores nationwide, is being sued by Connecticut over claims it sold expired products less than a month after the company settled a similar lawsuit with New York. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said an investigation found 20 or more stores in the state — including locations in Cheshire, Waterbury and Winsted — selling items past their expiration dates. The items included baby formula, energy drinks, cough and allergy medicines, and dairy products such as milk, eggs and yogurt. A survey in the summer of 2008 showed 10 of about 40 stores visited selling...

Medical identity theft is on the rise and expected to worsen. The problem has grown during the recession as more uninsured people use the coverage of a friend, relative or even a stranger to get care. Of particular concern is the fact that most of the fraud is committed by people who pay medical workers for patients' information. In one case, a front-desk clerk at a medical clinic in Weston, Fla., downloaded the personal information of more than 1,100 Medicare patients and gave it to a cousin, who made $2.8 million in false Medicare claims.

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- The state Green Party is hoping to enlist a new candidate to run against Sen. Chris Dodd in 2010. Friday, the party urged Winsted-native Ralph Nader, the 76-year-old frequent presidential candidate, to jump into the race. Nader has experience running in national elections, having run for president three times. Nader was in West Hartford on Friday for a book signing. At the same time, supporters are urging him to get into what they called one of the hottest political races in the country. “If enough people, hundreds and hundreds of people urge Ralph Nader to run,...

Physicist Howard Hayden, a staunch advocate of sound energy policy, sent me a copy of his letter to the EPA about global warming. The text is also appended below, with permission. As noted in my post Access to Energy, Hayden helped the late, great Petr Beckmann found the dissident physics journal Galilean Electrodynamics (brochures and further Beckmann info here; further dissident physics links). Hayden later began to publish his own pro-energy newsletter, The Energy Advocate, following in the footsteps of Beckmann's own journal Access to EnergyI love Hayden's email sign-off, "People will do anything to save the world ... except...

With Pfizer Leaving, City Has Nothing But Weedy Acres To Show For Grandiose Development Scheme That Uprooted Homeowners And Razed A Neighborhood I'm often asked if I'd consider writing a novel. My answer is always no, truth is better than fiction ... and often harder to swallow. Consider the bitter pill that Pfizer Inc. slipped New London this week. Barely a decade after constructing a $300 million research and development headquarters in the city, the pharmaceutical giant announced it was shutting down the facility. Just like that, New London will lose 1,400 jobs and become home to a gigantic, vacant...

Supreme Court Decision to Be Implemented "As Soon As Practicable," City Says Five months after winning a landmark ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, 14 white and Hispanic firefighters in New Haven, Conn., will soon receive the promotions they were denied on the basis of their race. Federal Judge Janet Bond Arterton -- the same judge who threw out the firefighters' lawsuit in 2006 -- issued an unambiguous ruling Tuesday, ordering Connecticut officials to promote the men. "The New Haven Civil Service Board shall certify the results of the 2003 promotional examinations for the positions of Lieutenant and Captain in...

Men Stole From Wounded Veterans by Jodie Mozdzer | Nov 23, 2009 1:48 pm Two Shelton men were arrested Sunday for allegedly stealing money meant for wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Ron Orszag, a Vietnam veteran from Fairfield who served in the U.S. Navy, was outside the Stop & Shop on Bridgeport Avenue Sunday collecting donations for Operation Gift Card. The program purchases gift cards for severely injured Marines and soldiers. At about 5:15 p.m., Orszag, 62, had just sat down at the table when a young-looking man ran up from behind, grabbed a wooden collection box stuffed with about...

HARTFORD Edward Casares Jr. rode his 10-speed bicycle to the Hartford Fire Department's training facility on Jennings Road in 1980, two thoughts came to mind. "The first was, 'What am I doing here?'" Casares, 51, said Friday as he recalled the day he joined the department. "The second was, 'Someday I'm going to be chief.'" Casares' long-held dream came true Friday as he was named the 36th chief of the Hartford Fire Department. His promotion will take effect in April when Chief Charles A. Teale's retirement takes effect. Casares, a 28-year veteran of the department, has been fire marshal since...

NEW BRITAIN — Metalform Co. president John McCarthy told U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Friday that there was only one thing he could do for small business owners like himself — get the economy moving again. “Until customers have confidence they’re going to keep holding back,” McCarthy told Dodd minutes after the senator toured one of Metalform’s buildings on John Downey Drive. The senator was at the plant to talk with McCarthy and employees about the state of tool and die making and how to keep small businesses working and growing. The company makes fabricated metal parts including fasteners for...

NY Activists: Join NOW NY State Dec. 4! Demand health care reform that includes full reproductive rights for ALL women! Join with the National Organization for Women New York State chapter, local activits and prominent reproductive rights advocates to say NO to any Stupak-Pitts-like amendemnts in the National Health Care Reform package. Full Reproductive Rights for Women....Nothing More, Nothing Less Location: Front of Senator Schumer's office 757 Third Avenue (at 48th Street) NYC Date: Dec. 4, 2009 Time: Noon until 2:00 pm

NEW HAVEN — - When city officials and environmental groups heard that PSEG Power LLC, an energy company that owns some of the state's most offensive power plants, wanted to build new "peaking" power plants near New Haven's East Shore neighborhood, they became outraged. The three new power plants would be used only during peak electricity times, such as during heat waves, and would burn clean natural gas. Nevertheless, they would be in an area already plagued by polluted air because of its proximity to the city's busy port, the interstate highway and PSEG's New Haven Harbor Station plant. The...

<p>Contact your Senators and let them know what you think!</p> <p>U.S. veterans or subsidies for United Nations (U.N.) bureaucracy.</p>

Enfield (WTNH) - The ACLU of Connecticut is warning the Enfield school board to stop holding graduation ceremonies at a Bloomfield megachurch, claiming the graduates and their families are unconstitutionally being subjected to religious messages.

Democratic State Representative Jason Bartlett, who's district includes Bethel, Danbury and Redding, was arrested on several motor vehicle charges after being pulled over in Newtown. Newtown Police Sgt. Dominic Costello says Bartlett was pulled over by an officer who saw him driving while speaking on his cell phone, without a hands free device. After a short investigation, the officer determined that his registration had expired and his license was suspended. Costello did not know why Bartlett's license was suspended. Bartlett says he will be releasing a statement about the incident this afternoon.

New Haven, Conn. (AP) -- A group of black Connecticut firefighters hopes to block promotions for white firefighters who won a discrimination case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The black New Haven firefighters argue in papers filed Monday that they still have a right to challenge the validity of the promotional exam.

Navy finds lax behavior aboard sub in collision GROTON, Conn. (AP) -- The crew aboard a U.S. submarine made dozens of errors before the vessel collided with an American warship in the Persian Gulf, an accident that exposed lax leaders who tolerated sleeping, slouching and a radio room rigged with music speakers, a Navy review found.

Just on the radio, bomb scare Trumbull High School, Connecticut

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is joining Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., in publicly declaring that the attack on Fort Hood is likely an act of Islamist terrorism. Cornyn wrote a letter to President Barack Obama today urging the White House not to let "political correctness" get in the way of investigating the Nov. 5 massacre that left 13 people dead and more than 30 wounded.

The Connecticut Republican Party chairman is publicly urging Senate candidate Sam Caligiuri to switch races and run against Rep. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy's statement, which was just released, makes public what many have suggested privately since the state senator, Caligiuri, entered the race. Caligiuri is seen as a rising star, but he has been drowned out of the Senate race by four well-funded opponents. In the meantime, he was a rare bright spot for the GOP in 2006, when he took Murphy's state Senate seat from the Democrats. Republican Afghanistan veteran Justin Bernier has raised...

STAMFORD -- Quietly holding candles, hundreds of clergymen, congregants and reform advocates lined the sidewalks outside Independent U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman's Stamford home Sunday night in a show of support for universal health care. "When we heard not only would he vote against it, but he'd use his power, his position as a swing vote ... to block it from coming to a vote, we had to send a message so he knows people who vote overwhelmingly favor the public option," said Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, of Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford.

Connecticut’s year-old marriage equality law has meant hard-earned respect for same-sex couples — society’s official acceptance and the state’s unqualified recognition of their domestic happiness. “For same-sex couples, it’s a life-long dream” said Ridgefielder Barbara Simkins. “Who’d have thought there’d be such a day, that we’d have the same rights as every other human being in this country? But, unfortunately, it’s only in six states so far. I’m very very proud of Connecticut.” The state’s open-minded law has also made Ridgefield — with its pretty Main Street, nice restaurants, and a gay-owned bed and breakfast — a bit of a...

It's heartbreaking for struggling New London to lose pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, but a relief that the jobs won't leave Connecticut. They'll move across the Thames River instead. Even so, Pfizer's announcement that it will soon leave the $294 million research and development center, built eight years ago on New London's waterfront, seems an abandonment of grand hopes for the small city and an ironic ending to a bitter chapter in its history. But the book isn't finished yet. Pfizer will leave behind prime space that should attract the kind of taxpaying tenant New London badly needs. And the adjoining Fort...

HARTFORD — U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd and his chief Republican rival both took hits in the latest Quinnipiac University poll. After posting some slight gains, Dodd is sliding back down again in voters' assessments of his job performance, and more than half of state voters say he doesn't deserve to be re-elected. "The poll is bad news for Sen. Dodd. ... His job approval rating has dropped. He falls further behind the Republican hopefuls," said Douglas Schwartz, director of the Quinnipiac poll. There were also some disappointing results for former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, R-2nd District. He has been...

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Firefighter Mike Di’Giacomo said his SUV is banned from in the firehouse because the bumper stickers he has on it, displays his political views. Di’Giacomo said he has never run into a problem like this in the 10 years he has been with the department. The bumper stickers read: Somewhere in Kenya, a village is missing its idiot I’ll keep my guns, freedom and money. You keep the change Obama Bin Lyin. Impeach Now

Could Sen.Chris Dodd, senior US Senator from CT REALLY BE IN TROUBLE? Things will come out in the wash. It’s just one poll, it’s still a year away, but the time is running shorter and the poll is running in the wrong direction for the senior Senator from Connecticut. Former Connecticut Congressman Rob Simmons has an early lead in the Republican primary race for the 2010 U.S. Senate contest and runs better than any other challenger against Sen. Christopher Dodd, topping the Democratic incumbent 49 – 38 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

HARTFORD (AP) — The election for Connecticut's U.S. Senate seat is a year away, but five Republican candidates are faring well enough among voters to jeopardize incumbent Christopher Dodd's re-election chances, according to a new poll. The Quinnipiac University survey, released Thursday, says 54 percent of Connecticut voters disapprove of Dodd's performance, up from 49 percent in September. It also shows the five-term incumbent particularly vulnerable among independents, the largest voting bloc in the otherwise Democratic-leaning state. Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz said only 39 percent considered Dodd honest and trustworthy. Schwartz called it the "ABD" sentiment: "Anybody but...

Hundreds of women have trusted him with their bodies, and their dreams of motherhood. Many depend on him as their doctor today. But for nearly seven years, none of Dr. Ben D. Ramaley's patients have known that the prominent obstetrician/gynecologist had been accused of an almost unimaginable act - substituting his own sperm for that of a patient's husband during an artificial insemination procedure. The allegation was made against the veteran Greenwich doctor in a 2005 medical malpractice lawsuit - which was quickly settled, then sealed, the very court documents shredded. The suit was filed by a couple when a...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate's top banking legislator proposed ambitious financial regulation reforms on Tuesday, leaping beyond earlier proposals to tighten bank regulation, protect consumers and police systemic risk. In the 1,136-page bill, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd called for creating three new government agencies, regulating over-the-counter derivatives, and cracking down on hedge funds, credit rating agencies and executive pay. Flanked by eight other Democratic senators at a news conference, Dodd said he is targeting the first week of December for his committee to work on the measure. It raises the stakes in a debate under way for...

Hartford (WTNH) - Protesters who are miffed about Joe Lieberman's stance against the current health care reform package held demonstrations today at his offices in Washington, D.C. and Hartford. 30 people showed up to Lieberman's Hartford office this morning. An aide to Lieberman came out to listen to what they had to say. Police arrested four of the protestors in Hartford and charged them with disorderly conduct. The group claims that Sen. Lieberman has excepted over $2 million in contributions from the health care industry since 1989. The event in Hartford was coordinated with another demonstration at Sen. Lieberman's Washington,...

Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Monday at 5 p.m. that she will not seek re-election as governor in 2010. "After much soul-searching, and discussion with my family, I have decided not to seek re-election next year," Rell said in her Capitol office during a hastily called press conference with her family standing by. She said it has been "an honor" to serve. She cited accomplishments including ethics and campaign finance reform, noting that in 2004 she "came in at a troubling time in our state's history." That was a reference to her ascension from lieutenant governor on July 1, 2004,...

Peter Schiff's campaign website has been repeatedly targeted by cyber attackers, his brother and spokesman said this afternoon. The campaign has notified the FBI. Schiff, a Republican running for U.S. Senate, had planned a "moneybomb'' -- a one-day online fundraising blitz -- for today, but just minutes before midnight, when the moneybomb was set to start, the website went down, his brother, Andrew Schiff, said. "These are coordinated attacks,'' Andrew Schiff said in a brief phone interview. It wasn't the first time the website has been hit, Andrew Schiff said. The campaign had been targeted several times in the past...

The private homes New London, Conn., took through eminent domain from Suzette Kelo and others, are torn down now, but Pfizer has just announced that it closing up shop at the research facility that led to the condemnation. Leading drugmakers Pfizer and Wyeth have merged, and as a result, are trimming some jobs. That includes axing the 1,400 jobs at their sparkling new research & development facility in New London, and moving some across the river to Groton. To lure those jobs to New London a decade ago, the local government promised to demolish the older residential neighborhood adjacent to...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The chairman of the Senate's Homeland Security committee, Joe Lieberman, on Sunday said that the deadly shooting at Texas' Fort Hood military base was an act of "Islamist extremism." Lieberman, a former Democratic vice-presidential candidate, said it was too early to definitively state the motives of Nidal Hasan, who is alleged to have killed 13 and injured 30 on a murderous rampage last week, but said clues pointed to terrorism. "There are very, very strong warning signs here that Dr Hasan had become an Islamist extremist and, therefore, that this was a terrorist act," he told Fox...

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 single out a religious group in a project on town property and paid for with taxpayers' money. The memorial plaque to be erected outside the town hall is on indefinite hold. Peter Gadiel is criticizing town leaders for being too politically correct, and says he's frustrated about what he calls...

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!"