"No one denies that he had the right to hold dissident views.

On the other hand, it was a drag having him around."

 

Great citizens of Connecticut have put pen on paper to tell parts of my story, like pro journos Christopher Arnott and Michael Marciano.

For me, both this op-ed today by Jean Moore about Connecticut's 1919 execution of her anarchist great uncles and Paul Stacy's Jan. 26 Letter to the Editor in the Hartford Courant fit the above cartoon, sent to me by Alan Bisbort, apparently from a Playboy in the mid-1970s. I made a minor alteration to what used to be a Kremlin-looking building.

Why Silence Opposing Views? (THC, 1/26/2007)

Stan Simpson's scenario [column, Jan. 10, "Protesting Rell Serves Public, Too"] regarding Ken Krayeske lobbing "an egg or two at Fairy Godmother M. Jodi Rell" is possible. This possibility apparently justifies the man's being arrested and kept in jail until the parade, even the ball, is completed uninterrupted.

A different scenario is not just possible, but probable:

One of the governor's armed guards, nervously imagining something awful - "It seemed to me like a real threat" - pulls out his pistol and shoots the man dead. The activist, never a threat, is dead. The trooper apologizes, most sincerely. The public has been served, too.

Tell me again why critics of politicians must be silenced or jailed for their opposition. Mark Twain takes a more American stand: "The first gospel of all monarchies should be rebellion."

Paul H. Stacy
Bloomfield

Link...

Somewhere in Key West, maybe two years ago.

 

Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, who the 40-Year Plan interviewed on Feb. 14, 2006, is practicing peace in Amman, Jordan, right now, and recently filed this dispatch, "We Have Tasted War." (h/t Hartford Catholic Worker).

Umm Heyder, the Iraqi mother and English teacher Kelly speaks of, visited Hartford several years ago and on our cable access show with her then nine-year-old son Mostafa.

In January of 2003, shortly before the US bombed and invaded Iraq, I asked a dear friend, Umm Heyder, to tell me how she was feeling. "It is very hard," she said, "when all you can do is to sit and to wait for your city to be bombed. And, you see," she continued, "we have tasted war before."

I'm in Amman, Jordan now, waiting for Umm Heyder to come here with her seventeen year old daughter, who we hope will be admitted to an Amman hospital for very serious medical care.

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It seems like I'm making some funny faces in parts of this video (cross posted at MLN), but that's because i have a sore throat. Oh well. Thanks for the awesome work, CTBlogger!

 

In addition to this pretty awesome video from CTBlogger, I want to take a moment to throw some links out there about what has been going on in my situation.

Here's the latest round-up of press and stories about this little corner of the world:

Alan Bisbort's weekly Column on stenography journalism.

From the Public Safety Committee dog and pony show, 1/23/07:

Paul Hughes of the Waterbury Republican

Brian Lockhart of the Stamford Advocate

Mark Davis of WTNH-8 TV

CTNewsJunkie

Sue Haigh of the AP

Mark Pazniokas of the Courant

Stan Simpson of the Courant

Gabe at CTLocalPolitics takes Chief Robert's testimony apart.

And, of course, my attorney Norm Pattis weighs in, too.

Link...

The Judy Dworin Performance Project sings and dances based on tales emanating from time in the pen at CCSU on Thursday and Friday Feb. 1 and 2. Don't miss it.

 

Don't take my word that doing time sucks. My experience is limited. Check out what women behind bars endure, as illustrated by the Judy Dworin Performance Project's Time In.

Down at Central Connecticut State University Thursday and Friday Feb. 1 and 2 from 7:30 to 9:30 pm, the Dworin players will perform the work that sold out the Charter Oak Cultural Center.

Link...

My buddy Nolan narrates this 18 seconds of footage of mountain biking in the West Hartford Reservoir back on Global Warming Day, Jan. 6, a few days after my arrest.

 

My favorite part about this whole InauguRell debacle is the fact that most of the news-watching people in the Nutmeg state now know I am fast enough on a mountain bike to be classified as erratic, strange and otherwise deserving of police attention.

Link...

 

Today is the 34th Anniversary of Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court decision that protects the right of privacy, which in essence protects the right of a woman to choose to terminate a pregnancy.

While today is usually a day to talk about female reproductive rights, I think it all falls under the umbrella of universal health care. An enlightened approach to single payer health carewould allow us to provide better sex ed, better contraception, better prenatal care and better infant care.

I don't want to get into a Bill Hicks-style rant against pro-lifers, I just want to note that the government has a role in pregnancy, and that role is not to prevent women from deciding how to deal with their pregnancy. Government should provide tools to help women make the best decision. A universal, single payer health care plan would do that.

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