A Fun, Free Film Festival!

My pal Doug Poger is helping run a film festival on October 5 & 6 in Waterbury, and it's entirely FREE! The Brass City Film & Music Festival is Oct. 5th & 6th at Creative Cinemas 10 located at 117 Sharon Road Waterbury CT. Red Carpet walk and reception 5:30 and films start 6 PM Friday and Saturday nights. Live Music Saturday afternoon Oct. 6th from 1:00 PM to 4:30. The Festival is free and a portion of the proceeds from the concessions will go to Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury. (posted by Connecticut Bob)

Best.Headline.Ever.

courtesy of DesignNews

First Nanocomposite Manned Boat Will Fight Pirates

Although, to be honest, the rest of the article is sorta just a press release. It was the Pirate reference that made it interesting. Plus the fact that it will be "manned" (so, does that mean "no chicks allowed"?).

The Integrity of the Vote

I went to 2 Audits of the Voting Machines last week, as a volunteer for the Connecticut Citizens Election Audit Coalition.

This is a group effort of Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, Connecticut Citizen Action Group, and CT Voters Count.

That's a lot of links. Here's the story:

After every election the Secretary of the State (now the truly wonderful Denise Merrill) has volunteers select 10% of the polling places in Connecticut for an Audit. Contrary to the concerns of Registrars of Voters, this is totally random. I even assisted in the selection this year, to guarantee that I could truly witness the randomness of the selection process.

There are people (you could be one!) who volunteer to observe the  machine audits after every election in CT. It is only an investment of time. I have volunteered 10 times, with only one repeat town.

The Audit involves a review of the Chain of Custody for the ballots from the election, followed by a hand count of the ballots in order to confirm that the scanners and memory cards for the voting machines are operating accurately. There is a section of the report where we record concerns of the Registrars of Voters, so that their voice can be heard.

Luther Weeks, an actuary, collates all town audit reports from the volunteers and then writes a final report ( here is the report from November 2011 - .pdf) which he submits - with recommendations - to the Secretary of the State and the Government Administration and Elections Committee.

So I volunteer. I go spend a few hours in a town where I don't live, checking boxes on a form, ensuring that the Registrars have all the information they need to conduct a fair election, finding out if the ballots or machines were tampered with (has not happened in Connecticut to my knowledge), and fulfilling a civic obligation.

Volunteer now for the post-election Audit which will follow our Presidential election in November!

(Brownie Points are self-assigned.)

More McMayhem

"Linda" is still "Not Ready for Prime Time"...


As NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut Executive Director Christian Miron stated the other day:"Linda McMahon either doesn’t care or doesn’t get it—I’ll leave it to the women of Connecticut to decide which is worse.”

On Tuesday, November 6th
Vote for
Chris Murphy for US Senate!

 =========------------------------------------------=========

And this from CT News Junkie (Click on Header to read full article):

WWE Gets YouTube To Take Down Footage

If you’re looking online for some of the older footage of World Wrestling Entertainment, you’re not going to find it.

With it’s former CEO, Linda McMahon, running for the U.S. Senate, the publicly traded company has sought to erase some of its raunchier footage from the early days.

“Some of this footage has been misused in political environments without any context or explanation as to when it was produced. This damages the corporate reputation of our company. WWE is well within its rights to protect its intellectual property for fair use,” Brian Flynn, senior vice president of marketing and communications for the WWE, said Thursday. [...]

Linda McMayhem - To Put it Blunt-ly

This just in:

Linda McMahon’s Campaign Belittles the Need for Affordable Health Care

NEW HAVEN, CT—Christian Miron, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut, blasted Linda McMahon’s campaign for its insensitive comments on women’s access to affordable birth control on Monday, September 10th.

“The McMahon campaign’s attempt to minimize the need for affordable health care is appalling,” Miron said. “Instead of supporting near-universal health care for Connecticut’s families, Linda McMahon supports the Blunt Amendment, which would allow your boss to deny contraceptive coverage for any reason. This should serve as a chilling reminder of what’s at stake this election.”

The Blunt Amendment would have allowed corporations and insurance companies to refuse to cover birth control and other essential health benefits, including maternity care, HIV/AIDS treatment, and cancer screenings.

Miron said while birth control is considered critical to women’s health, one of the most significant barriers to accessing it is its cost. “Paying out of pocket for contraception can result in annual fees of more than $700. Over the span of a woman’s reproductive years, the cost of contraception can amount to more than $20,000,” said Miron.

“This is an economic issue for women,” Miron said. “For many, the cost of birth control is prohibitive, especially during a time when families are having trouble making ends meet. Providing universal no-cost birth control coverage is essential to increasing access to critical preventative-health care. Linda McMahon either doesn’t care or doesn’t get it—I’ll leave it to the women of Connecticut to decide which is worse.”

Miron went on to call the McMahon campaign out of touch with Connecticut voters. “Linda McMahon isn’t living in the same world as the rest of us if her campaign believes most women pay “four dollars” for reliable birth control.”

Victim Support Packages - Donations Requested

The Milford Bank and the Rape Crisis Center of Milford, Inc. are teaming up to sponsor a drive to collect items which will be used for Victim Support Packages.

Donated items may be dropped off at any office of The Milford Bank
from September 1^st until September 30^th.

  When a victim goes to the hospital after an assault, they can participate in an evidence collection procedure which requires them to leave their clothing. Victim Support Packages are brought by an advocate of the center so the victim can leave the hospital with dignity. This serves as a stepping stone to healthy recovery.

Items needed for the Victim Support Packages are:

• light weight pants, sweat pants, elastic-waist shorts
• sweat shirts, t-shirts
• white low cut socks and underwear all in sizes large and extra-large
• flip flops
• comb/brush set
• toothbrush/toothpaste set
•  individual tissue packs
• small hand sanitizer
• water, Gatorade, and individual snacks like granola bars or crackers. No nut products please. 

The mission of the Rape Crisis Center of Milford, Inc. serving Ansonia, Derby, Milford, Orange, Seymour, Shelton, and West Haven is to eliminate violence and sexual assault through education and prevention and to empower victims to regain control of their lives.

The Milford Bank was founded in 1872 as a mutual institution and currently has total assets of approximately $380 million. The Bank has seven full service offices in Milford and Stratford, Connecticut and a loan production office in New Haven, Connecticut.

Invitation to International Day of Peace

7th Annual
International Day of Peace

Sunday, September 16, 2012 

1-5 p.m.   

[ed: Bring The Kids!]

The West River Neighborhood Services Corporation (WRNSC) will host its Seventh Annual United Nations International Day of Peace on Sunday, September 16, 2012 from 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. It will be held by the United Nations/ New Haven International Peace Garden at West River, Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Legion Avenue.
This annual celebration will once again feature local talent, community agencies and people joining together in music, crafts, meditation, prayer and fellowship - all in a celebration of peace and the acceptance of our roles in promoting it.

The International Day of Peace observance will provide a festive public event that focuses on building and empowering the West River residential, inter-faith, and business community through fellowship. This annual project showcases WRNSC commitment as a green, caring community and a neighborhood that is a messenger for local and international peace. This event serves to educate, disseminate, and advocate local services, programs and organizations with the goal of building a strong sense of community.

There will be free food, children’s activities and information tables from local organizations.  Performances include the reggae band I.N.I.T.Y., the blues/soul/funk of Boogie Chillun, Tai Chi and Kung-Fu demonstrations by Dr. Shiyuan Li, spoken word artists and meditation exercises led by The Art of Living. 

The City of New Haven Peace Commission will present the West River neighborhood with a Peace Tree and a plaque that commemorates West River as a neighborhood dedicated to peace.

Sponsoring this event are the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, the City of New Haven Department of Arts, Culture & Tourism, New Haven Peace Commission, Start Bank, Stop & Shop and Yale-New Haven Hospital. The festival is made possible with the support of the City of New Haven Mayor’s Community Arts Grants Program. 

For information, please contact Stacy Spell at stacy.spell@gmail.com or call 203-777-2192.

The rain date for the event is Sunday, Sept. 23.

Photos from a previous celebration are on the Facebook link