Woodstock CT Café

from Lucida

This is a very interesting conversation (Newcomer et al.). However, it certainly seems to be mixing theaters… personal emotions, religious convictions, and social structure to name the ones that pop into my head.

Laws are what we create to maintain the framework of the state, thus maintaining a stable social structure which we all benefit from. But law is an ongoing process that builds upon that which has gone before; even when what went on before no longer exists in fact.

The ‘to have and to hold’ phraseology in the common marriage contract is not a nod from the legal profession toward some notion of romance. It is indeed legal contract language charging the man with the upkeep and maintenance of the woman who, as property, was being transferred from her father’s (or other male relative in charge of her) possession to her husband’s control. It is all well and good to think of love and tenderness when discussing marriage, but the State is only concerned with the viability and the ongoing strength of the social structure.

In the case of the death penalty, it has been the charge of the state (the organizing structure of groups or communities, i.e. lords, kings, states, governments, etc.) to disallow harm to the structure of whatever group it has consigned to it; from a very simple form of wife to man all the way through something as complex as the Federal Government. Not so long ago, you could be hanged for stealing a horse. At its core is the basis that by stealing a man’s horse you were not only depriving him of the ability, in some fashion, of making a living and maintaining his property (wife/children) but also, by extension, depriving the state of a source of income whether by taxes or otherwise.

In the case of terminating a pregnancy, it is something that has been part of human culture for eons. In almost every case that I can imagine, it has been a woman’s choice, whether sanctioned or not. Between the 1300’s and the 1800’s knowledge of herbal abortifacients could actually be reason enough to be put to death. The perspective in this was that those terminating a pregnancy were denying the man his property rights. I’m sure there was also the disavowal that women would actually think they had the right to have their own opinion in the matter. Since the 1800’s, the practice of using herbal abortifacients has not been sanctioned or encouraged, but we’ve stopped killing people who knew how to use them.

Fast forward to the 20th century and our society has evolved to the point that women are considered ‘equal’ participants in society (mind you that ‘equal’ state is not legally recognized in our constitution or its amendments). Women are no longer viewed as property and generally accepted as individuals of equal standing (individual philosophical neanderthals, notwithstanding).

So, we’ve stopped hanging people for stealing horses or killing them for knowing/using herbal abortifacients but we do execute individuals who have proven the complete and utter disrespect and/or acceptance of our community’s standards. Read the rest of this entry »

from Newcomer

When it comes to the abortion debate, I do feel that one position is more moral than the other as it pertains specifically to this one issue. I do not next make the leap to feeling that just because I hold the opinion that I feel to be morally correct on abortion, that that somehow makes me a moral person and superior to others in some way. I’m simply passionate in my beliefs about this issue because it addresses the core of our human existence – life.

Further, I feel strongly that we should not as a species take our humanity for granted and when we legalize termination of life without requiring a serious reason for doing so, other than one’s personal preference, we desensitize ourselves to our humanity. Throughout history, we have examples of where that’s gotten us such as the practice of slavery and Nazi annihilation of Jews.

Human beings are the only species on earth capable of higher-order reasoning, speech, and expression of emotion. Other creatures may have a small aspect of one of these qualities but not all of them and not to the extent that a human does. As such, we should treasure each other’s existence as a gift of creation. I happen to believe that there is a Divine Creator, but one need not agree with me about that in order to appreciate and value a human life. We do not value life when we passively accept that someone has the ‘right’ to kill their unborn child if they want to because it has the nerve to be growing in their body (through no “choice” of its own) when they hadn’t planned on it being there at the time it’s created. I’m sorry but I feel that’s plain wrong. In that regard, I do feel there is a moral absolute. In those gray areas such as when the mother’s life is in serious jeopardy, the lines of the absolute begin to blur. That gray areas exist doesn’t give us the right to choose to end a life for absolutely no reason other than ‘it’s my perogative to do it if I want to’.

Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should and ending a life for no good reason falls into that category in my opinion, regardless of what the Justices who heard Roe v. Wade said in their ruling. I’m sure every one of them had more education and legal expertise than I have or ever will have. That doesn’t mean they got it right in that case. Legal trumps moral on the issue of abortion in America, but let’s not deceive ourselves into thinking that justifies the immorality of ending a life in progress.

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

See Rick Green’s article in the Courant on corruption of the Probate System by election of Probate Judges.

 from ConDem

Thanks for posting (the debate between Bill Loftus and Mike Alberts), but as usual the moderator of these local debates is lackluster and the questions he poses offers little except to enable the opponents to hide behind political correctedness.

Here’s a question that I would have liked asked:

What does Mike Albert’s think about the Republican’s Pledge For America and does he plan to use the same political philosophy (fuzzy math) in representing the 50th District?

That would be to:

1- Cut spending in an anemic economy which would lead to further job loss (teachers, govt. workers, construction workers, police, fire.

2- Condemn deficits, but preserve tax cuts to the wealthy. Which on a national level would add $3.7 Trillion worth of debt over the next decade.

3- A call for sacrifice (except for the rich who get tax cuts)–wink wink, nod nod-meaning the middle class gets to sacrifice while the rich get a break on our back (watch for GOP plan: attack social security).

4- Curb state regulation. Uh, hello, wasn’t it lack of regulation that got us into this mess in the first place??

from John

Rowayton CT nestled between Norwalk and Darien on Long Island Sound was my home town for my first 18 years. I spent 4-5 years in summer sailing school at the Norwalk Yacht Club which was on Bluff Avenue in Rowayton before it moved to the opposite side of the Cove to Wilson Point in the 1960s. I notice that the NYC still has junior sailing classes 5 days a week for 8-foot dinghies and 14-foot Blue Jays.

I enjoyed these daily classes immensely and discovered that I had a talent for winning races. While my best friend, Paul, was starring in little league and pony league baseball in Norwalk, I was sailing. In retrospect it’s easy to see how the Rowayton kids of the 50s started to head in different directions between 1955 and the 60s. We all had our different diversions.

I remember a local kid, Bill Lilly, attending sailing school. Bill Lilly was the only Rowaytonite killed in the Viet Nam War. I made the point of looking for Bill’s name on the Viet Nam Memorial when I visited Washington DC later on.

The satellite view below shows the playing field for Sailing School which spanned from Wilson Cove in the north past Tavern Island to a buoy just south of the southern tip of Bell Island. Read the rest of this entry »

Mariah Chrisann Leavitt was born on October 11th 1988 at Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City CA: pict #1 is day 1; pict #2 is Mariah on the 26th of February 2000 at 11; pict #3 in San Francisco this year.

http://ctv14.pegcentral.com/player.php?video=f2900749fdedd69076f40d704fdef96d

from Kos 

Republicans are angry and with good reason. Two years ago they lost power of the Presidency and both houses of government.

In the words of Republican Congressman Eric Cantor “Look, we know we screwed up when we were in the majority. We fell in love with power. We spent way too much money—especially on earmarks. There was too much corruption when we ran this place. We were guilty. And that’s why we lost.” 

Today, in just two short years these same Republicans are now Jimmy Swaggart-style repentative yet still unable to come up with any credible solutions, ideas, or platforms to help move our country forward.  Oh, except cutting taxes for the wealthy, repealing health care reform, and coming up with catch phrases and slogans that traffic in fear and misinformation.

In fact, the Republicans are so good at coming up with these catch phrases that they actually found themselves in hot tea water as a result.  Yep, the anger and misinformation of this Republican brew is responsible for the likes of Sarah Palin and Christine O’Donnell who in the words of Frank Rich, have given us “a bottomless trove of baldfaced lies, radical views and sheer wackiness.” The Republican machine is fuming from the steam let out by the boiling tea kettle they helped to create.  Now there is division not only in the Republican party, but a populist force which is seeking to divide the country as well.

Meanwhile, President Obama has been hugely successful despite these political undercurrents and despite the legislative restraints they have created.

In the last 18 months while the Republicans having been sulking in over-brewed and bitter tea, the Democrats have accomplished the following:

-Pulled us and the rest of the world from the brink of another Great Depression.

-Enacted consumer protections for homeowners and credit card users

-Ended tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas.

-Passed health care reform that improves drug benefits for senior citizens, provides coverage to those with a pre-existing condition, allows a 22-year-old daughter home from college to stay on her parents’ insurance, and promises health care for millions of Americans.

-Made college more affordable for students.

-Passed historic legislation for our nation’s veterans and for equal pay for women.

-Stablization of the economy and loss of jobs. If you have a 401(k), take a look at it today and compare it with the day before President Obama was inaugurated. Back then, 750,000 jobs were being lost each month, with 22 consecutive months of job loss costing 8 million jobs. Read the rest of this entry »

This table was taken from Howard Smith’s Facebook page. This data comes from a spreadsheet published by the The Office of Management and Budget here Excel Table 7.1.

 from Kos

Linda McMahon, today September 30, upon accepting the endorsement of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), America’s leading small business association, in an East Hartford, made the unabashed remark that “we ought to review the minimum wage”. As if the minimum wage was such a pressing issue in today’s economy. Perhaps she meant that we should consider raising the minimum wage? Perhaps, but I don’t think so. Considering that the NFIB is opposed to minimum wage hikes.

So while Linda takes home $45 million dollars (by exploiting minimum wage earners and laying off 10% of her minimum wage staff) of dividends taxed at a rate of only 15%, she is willing to make a bold statement that suggests pulling the rug out of some of the lowest wage earners in our country-perhaps people who lost their higher paying jobs to the economic slump (caused by rich fat cats) and need to now work two “minimum wage” jobs to pay the mortgage.

The gap between rich and poor in the U.S. is the widest on record, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Census Bureau this month. The data, collected in 2009 and early 2010, show the broad impact of the recession, from falling household income and rising poverty levels to reduced birth rates and delayed marriage.

Median household income fell 2.9 percent nationwide, from $51,726 to $50,221 (which is what Linda takes home in a week). The share of Americans below the poverty line (roughly $22,000 for a household of four) rose from 13.2 to 14.3 percent, the highest rate since 1994. Now 43.6 million Americans are living in poverty, the most in the 51 years.

President Obama wants to extend tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush for households earning less than $250,000 and allow them to expire for those above. Most Republicans want to extend the cuts for all income groups as noted in their Pledge to America.

However, by extending these tax cuts to the wealthiest of the wealthiest (like Linda)the “Pledge to America” budget would mean $11.1 trillion in deficits over the next 10 years. By 2020, the federal budget deficit would be 6.3 percent of gross domestic product, the federal debt would exceed 93 percent of GDP, and interest payments on the debt would be more than $1 trillion a year. The budget deficit would be about $200 billion larger in 2020 under the “Pledge to America” plan than it would be under President Barack Obama’s budget. Read the rest of this entry »