Thursday, January 31, 2013

Wayne Winsley On Internet Radio Tonight

Listen in on 88.5FM or log on to Wvof.org and click on the "Listen to FM studio stream" link. Hosts will be interviewing Wayne Winsley. A former 2012 US congressional Candidate From CT's 3rd District.

Connecticut School Teacher on Guns and Gun Control- Hartford CT 01/19/2013

Gail Whitright, a Connecticut school teacher and advocate for veteran rights (www.propositionusa.com) shares what the 2nd amendment means to her as a woman in America. The Video is a product of Palin Smith. Thank you Palin & Gail!

Spin: In a bias article from  Ct News Junkie - then regurgitated by the left leaning Middletown Mess, the author misleads the public with the headline that teachers do not want to carry weapons. The article is here:

"Poll: Connecticut teachers do not support guns in schools"

http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2013/01/28/news/doc510718a3019fc373122075.txt.

Later in the article it is mentioned only 400 teachers were polled. A proper and more truthful title should read SOME teachers do not support guns carried by guards or faculty in schools.  Obviously, teacher Gail Whitright was not polled as to what her feelings regarding the 2nd Amendment!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Letter to the Editor: Reader Response to "What does the Second Amendment Mean to You?"

A Reader responses to our request for essays on the topic "What does the Second Amendment Mean to You? Thank you Adam!
Essays published as a courtesy, these do not necessarily reflect the views of the Insider Staff.
Readers - we are still accepting essays! Thank you-
In his own words:

It does not matter what the second Amendment means to me, it has already been decided by the Supreme Court multiple times.
More importantly what matters is civilians safety and facts.
Everytime a new gun law is passed since 1968 legislators and gun banners have said "this is the answer, this is the way to go" to solve crimes and then when it is signed and they are in front of the cameras they say "you know this isn't the complete answer to solving crime but it's a good first step".
Except that we have 20,000 Plus gun laws already signed into law, but who's counting anything besides vote's right now.
How can something be a first step even though we've taken 20,000 steps and none of them have gotten any of us any closer to slowing down crime?
Why do you want to return to policies that are proven failures? We tried this so called assault weapons ban on "ugly" guns and it did not work, it did not reduce crime. In fact once it ended and we got rid of the ban the murder rate went down. Why do we want to go back to something we know did not work?
Why do we want to do this 100% perfect track record of failure that does not reduce crime, does not reduce murders?
Gun control laws do not work.
Thanks,
Adam Peplau

Originally from Middletown, CT Resident

Your Daily Spin from the Middletown Mess: Dante's Inferno of Insanity

Former Senator Len Suzio (R) tried to stop early release of violent criminals and people balked. Now his predecessor is chatting up principals about safety in schools but failing to address the real issue as you and Suzio speak of. Check out the fluff piece in the Mess Tuesday regarding freshmen Democrat Senator Dante Bartolomeo's visit to Middletown's Farm Hill Elementary. Senator Bartolomeo (D) has jumped on her party's bandwagon of preaching anti violence (as if there any politician that actually preaches violence really, that's like being anti education, or anti sunshine) in schools to rub elbows and get some photo ops. If a conservative did this the media would call it exploitation of a tragedy, but since it is a democrat doing it it is dubbed good PR! The article cites poor school design & not enough cameras as a reason why there could be problems with safety- is someone pushing for a school project eh?

Also- didn't there used to be an SRO - school resource officer at Middletown High School? He tased a student after the student struck him- some parents and BOE members cried foul and the officer was pulled out? So NOW we want officers in all our schools to guard students now that Democrat politicians are calling for them? People decided  then tasers = bad,  now guns = worse, so what the officers will be armed with fuzzy foam spatulas? If  think you are confused you are not alone.
Suzio at a press conference last spring to explain proposed reforms to the early release of violent offenders.
 Gosh, we miss you!
Senator Suzio (R), former13th District representative for Middletown, Middlefield, Durham and Meriden, lead the fight to stop the early release of violent criminals before time served citing a plethora of instances of these criminals going on to commit more violent crimes when released. He and supporters of revised measures where met with resistance from Democrats in the legislature. Instead of addressing the issue of the high level of  violent offenders recommitting crimes when released, Bartolomeo skirts the issue and takes the argument that many Democratic politicians in Connecticut  (especially those in power around Ol' M-town) do of hurling large amounts of money at a problem with small fixes- cameras, staffing, guards- and crossing their fingers hoping something works.

These solutions are being offered to give a false sense of protection. These are  no real solutions at all,they are a few costly tactics to delay getting to the root of the real issues. Those real issues are the broken penal system, coupled with failures in mental health services to actually get help to those most in need & diligently protect people from those individuals - for whatever reason - seek to do harm & put the public's safety at risk-


According to Albert Einstein: Whats the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and getting the same crappy result yet expecting something different!!

Sounds like hell. Speaking of, seem's like Dante has brought us to the first circle on our way to the trap of circular reasoning- everything old and used before is new again - cameras, buzzers, task forces,community conversations etc. etc. - and we the citizens will suffer in the repetitive cycle of tossing  tax dollars at redundant, and failed antidotes disguised as plausible solutions to multi-faceted problems with no simple magic fixes.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Middletown Republican Town Committee meeting set for Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 7:00 P.M.

The Middletown Republican Town Committee meeting has been rescheduled for Thursday, January 31, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber of City Hall.  All members of the public are welcome to attend this meeting, but it should be noted that only elected members are allowed to speak on items on agenda per MRTC charter.  Please come down and meet some new people and if you would like join some of the members for coffee afterwards at a local restaurant.

DeLauro in Middletown On Thursday to Discuss SAFER Streets Act, Gun Violence Prevention

PRESS RELEASE:
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, who represents our city in the U.S. House of Representatives, will hold a press conference Thursday, January 31 at 11 am to discuss her SAFER Streets Act and the need for stronger laws to prevent future gun violence.

Joe Bango, the Connecticut small business owner who proposed the legislation to DeLauro, will be present to hand over his AR-15 to the State Police.

DeLauro’s priorities are: preventing guns from falling into the hands of violent criminals, getting dangerous assault weapons off the streets, improving our mental health system so it properly helps those in need and giving law enforcement officials the tools they need to keep the public safe. She is a member of the House of Representatives Task Force on Gun Violence Prevention.

In addition to Bango, DeLauro will be joined by Lt. J. Paul Vance, Department Spokesman/Media Relations Commander, Connecticut State Police, and Col. Danny Stebbins, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Emergency Services & Public Protection, Connecticut State Police

The Press conference on Gun Violence Prevention and SAFER Streets Act will take place Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 11:00 AM, at Connecticut State Police Headquarters, 1111 Country Club Roa

Monday, January 28, 2013

Guest Blog: Giuliano Discusses 2nd Amendment

This week, Connecticut state lawmakers are holding public hearings regarding gun control and the Second Amendment. Former Mayor of Middletown and attorney Sebastian Giuliano responds to the Middletown Insider ‘s call for reader essays on the topic “ What does the Second Amendment Mean to You?” Below in his own words:

 Guest blogs do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Middletown Insider staff, and are published as a courtesy to readers.

Below in Giuliano's own words:

The Second Amendment is not limited to guns. It states that .  .  . the right of the people to keep and bear ARMS shall not be infringed." This includes any kind of "arms" - guns, knives, spears, swords, battle axes, maces and, when they are invented, phasers and lightsabres.

The Second Amendment did not "create" or confer any rights. It acknowledged a pre-existing right of the PEOPLE to keep and bear arms.

Let me ask a simple question:

What existed first, individuals with weapons, or armies (militias, if you prefer)? The answer is obvious. Armies were formed from armed individuals banding together (that's basically the definition of"militia"). Let me ask another question: At what point in human history was the inherent right of the individual to arm him/herself subsumed into the power of the state to raise an army? I cannot find any instance wherein free people made such a covenant or compact; I can only conclude that such rights, where they no longer exist, have been tyrannically usurped.

The individual has the inherent (for those of you who don't recognize the term "God-given") right to arm him/herself with weapons equivalent to those with which he/she might be threatened. For those who say that the Second Amendment only extends to muskets, blunderbusses and Kentucky rifles, I respond that those weapons represented the "state of the art" at the time; the framers of the Constitution clearly did not intend for the minions of the government to have such a deadly advantage over the citizens.

As much as I can recognize the damage that one individual bent on destruction can wreak with a firearm, I can't justify limiting the rights of the entire citizenry as an acceptable remedy. For every firearm used improperly there are countless, just like it, that are not and never will be. To attempt to paint millions of responsible citizens with the same broad brush and, thereby, limit their rights is something I will never accept and to which I will never accede.

I, frankly, decline to admit or deny that I may own a firearm It's nobody's business. But I do have a bit of a military background and I have been trained to handle some pretty scary stuff. I can tell you, without reservation, that all responsible gun owners and people who have ever fired a gun sincerely hope (and pray) that they will NEVER have to fire it at another human being; no person with a soul or conscience or thought or feeling would ever wish to be in that position. But they also don't want to be defenseless in the face of an attack upon themselves. For elected officials, who have sworn to preserve and protect the rights of each and every individual citizen, to be telling such citizens, of whose individual circumstances they are completely ignorant, what and how much they "need" is not only violative of their sworn duty, it is condescending, arrogant, contemptuous and downright insulting. I, for one, can never - and will never - support any political figure who demonstrates such an attitude, be it by his/her words or conduct.

Sebastian Giuliano

Letter to the Editor: Local Cops Discuss 2nd Amendment

Letter to the Middletown Insider Blog:
  Hello Middletown Insider friends,
I know you dont think highly of me but eh I thought I would share something with you. 
I shot a video this last Monday with Kurt Knapp and Tom Sebold where they talk about the issues surrounding new laws banning assault weapons.
Here is the link.  http://youtu.be/1zUS35hx5iA
I feel that your readers would appreciate this message.  If you embed the video as a post thats great.  If you dont that fine by me too.

Thanks,
Darrell Lucas
READER Solicited Essays: The CT Legislature is currently hearing testimony.  Please write to us at middletowninsider@gmail.com :
"What does the 2nd Amendment mean to you?"
*Thanks Darrell- Kurt Knapp is a retired Dispatcher & Aux. Police Officer and Thomas Sebold a retired Middletown Police Officer. We thank them both for their service and all involved with this video.
 Please find Darrel's video below:

Guest Blog: Loitering (Cold) War Update!

Guest Blog by the Fred J. Carrol
All guest blogs are published as a courtesy and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Insider Staff.

Below is an update to his previously published essay here: http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/09/guest-blog-loitering-wars-update-by.html 
Many thanks Fred!
Loitering [Cold] War Update....tempered by five years 
of Bum with Brooming

.....well, let me start with right now and work my way backwards....as I walk up or down Liberty or Grand basically between High and Main streets of course I don't have to "look at" the garbage to see it, I already know it's there and can't help but see it....smell it, sense it, and not only do I not feel the same itch which prompted me to drop to my knees and start pulling weeds once upon a time back as it were in the day, before this Obama took the country completely Socialist! [sorry, I can't help myself...that's a joke....], yeah back in the day when the Doctor was a weed pullin' fool, a veritable broom swingin' savant [ I don't have to tell you what kind of savant], a leaf blower bearing bastard who didn't mind, nay verily delighted in, making a public fool of himself by energetically cleaning various types of "property", any or all of which obviously did not belong to said fool me...... so in other words what, am I crazy? What is going on here, why is this shaggy haired toothless old goofball cleaning the sidewalk, curb, steps, lawn, dumpster area, alley like he was not only getting paid, but maybe had an electric shock collar on punishing any slowing down with a few volts....Yeah, never mind "Oh no, I'm working but, alas! I am not being PAID to work...oh woe is me...woe is me..", no, never mind that, my initial Bums With Brooms endeavors had every potential to get me arrested, committed, or murdered.
Yeah it was a fairly dangerous bit, you know, just being out and all around at all hours, never mind being me, which is to say a hundred and fifty five pound long haired women's pants wearin' fifty some years old chess playing effete intellectual snob...very dangerous bit, never mind fairly. Anyway, why the hell did I want to do what I did for a solid four years, why? To answer as truthfully as possible with brevity at a premium also, I did it[wanted to do it] because I had nothing else to do, but beside that, because I enjoy blowing peoples minds...it's a sixties thing, you know....anyway.....what I started out to say is that...I don't want to clean the streets I mentioned anymore.....I feel like a plurality of the people who live there truly don't deserve clean, or, more importantly want it..... and my "artist's eye" is really developing to the point where I see litter as something which is as much as supposed to be there, as an emblem or flag of the [pardon me!] zeitgeist of a particular neighborhood, and shouldn't necessarily be disturbed......But so to bring it to loitering I honestly don't even really have anything to say about people standing around all day every day not selling drugs, or whatever it is.
My problem is when people leave their [tubercular sounding !] lung butter on the ground. That's it. And I'd bet it would take electric shock collars to get them to stop.
Fred J. Carroll

UNITED WAY Point In Time Count of Homeless

January 29th: UNITED WAY Point In Time Count of Homeless: Volunteers needed for homeless count people in our state. The count takes place Tuesday, Jan. 29, from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Information from the count will enable us to gauge the extent of homelessness, determine the services needed to end it, and help leverage federal funding to support those services. The Middlesex County contingent will meet at the YMCA, 99 Union St., Middletown. The evening will begin with orientation and brief training, and volunteers will be assigned to designated areas to located unsheltered people and conduct the survey. To sign up, contact Lisa Callahan at (860) 262-5352 or email lisa.callahan@ct.gov. Follow End In Ten on Facebook 


January Through March Nightly Warming Center: St. Vincent DePaul Middletown with downtown churches have a nightly warming center throughout the winter for the city's homeless people. The warming center will be open nightly from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. The Church of the Holy Trinity will host during January, South Congregational will host during February and First United Methodist will host the warming center in March. This year, St. Vincent de Paul received a $10,000 grant from the city health department and got donations from Middlesex ospital, St. Pius X Church, River Valley Services, Seasons Federal Credit Union and the Liberty Bank Foundation.

Dumb Decisions Made By the Middletown Common Council

Dumb Decisions Made By the Middletown Common Council * (Aka things we bet you didn't know about the folks that run the city.)

Note: In order for things to get down in the city, it is the Common Council (Democrat controlled since 1991) that votes on proposed ordinances and not the Mayor. (I.e. A city mayor can propose a tax decrease in his./her budget, but the common council by virtue of 2/3 majority, can override that budget and replace it with their own plan.) According to the town charter, the mayor of Middletown can only vote in the event that there is a 6-6 tie on the floor.

1. Remington Rand- In 1999 the city took ownership of the 184,000 square-foot industrial building at 180 Johnson Street through a foreclosure settlement. According to a 2010 Middletown Press article: "Eighteen tenants, including a landscaper and a mail sorting business, currently rent space in the building from the city, bringing in between $60,000-$100,000 annually for the city's economic development fund." The problem one may ask: the Democratic controlled common council was projecting the sale of the property and putting that amount into the budget. Confused? It’s like this, imagine that you want to sell your car and use the money to pay for a new roof. Sounds good on paper and it seems pragmatic, but if you don’t sell the car and the roof bill shows up. That is exactly what happened with the Rand property, the sale never happened and the Dem approved budget had monies (sale of Remington Rand) in their budget that didn’t exist. Translation: The property didn’t sell and the Dems spent the money that they didn’t have.

2. $25,000 (Was it more?) to It's Only Natural- If you are the owners of Middletown's Natural Health Store, It's Only Natural (ION) then in your soy/tofu soaked mind it's a great decision: free money. This really happened folks, the ION owners decided to ask Middletown's Common Council for money to help their business; they claimed that due to the construction of the Arrigoni Bridge, their business was becoming dry and the owners were losing monies. Did anybody from the council ask to see data or evidence (their books!) that supported this claim of lost funds due to bridge construction? Nope, and the council quickly voted 10-2 in favor of giving ION the $25,000 they sought. The two dissenting votes: Two female Republicans named Linda Salafia and Debbie Kleckowski.

3. 1,000,000$ in Union Concessions rejected in 2009- In 2009, the MMPA offered to concede a $1,000,000 in concessions to the city of Middletown to help with the budget deficit? What happened? The mayor and his staff warmly worked with John Milardo and Local 6092/ MMPA to take advantage of the generosity offered by the union to help the city. Results: The common council in all their wisdom voted not to take this one time gift of a million dollars. Reminds one of the Jedi council rejecting Anakin Skywalker membership into their guild- worked well for them did it not?

4. The New MHS High School- Where does one begin? From wetlands to the indicated Tomasso LLC the project was a mess from the very beginning. The finished product: No locker rooms, a cracked pool, lack of fire lanes and a budget that ballooned approximately $15 million over budget. (source H. Courant July 16, 2005) According to other town and newspapers sources the school has been plagued with the following issues as well: the immobility of the grandstands in the gym, the minimal size of the pool deck, the collapsing retaining wall at the truncated Cynthia Lane and more all given to us by a Democrat controlled common council and architects hand picked by then Mayor Dominique Thornton.


Administrative Assistant or Chief of Staff..Mmmm?

5.Appointing Dan Drew to Vinny Lofreddo's slot- Here is how it went down: Vinny Lofreddo the once and future Middletown Councilman (and Mayor for a day in 1965) decided it was time to take his leave from the council due to a new job appointment in Hartford or wherever. The Dems in classic Dem fashion, appointed the town's 'savior' Daniel T. Drew to Vinny's old job making him a councilman by appointment not election. What does this mean? This means that you, the public electoral body of Middletown, did not choose the one time defender of a UCONN student show entitled "I Did Your Mother" to the role of councilman. Yes, we know he was elected Mayor all buy himself (with the help of Wesleyan students), but one needs to ask themselves: What would women’s right activist and Rush Limbaugh nemesis Sandra Fluke say about Dan’s defense of a show entitled, “I Did Your Mother?” When she showed up in Middletown in late October 2012 to help the cause, was she aware of Dan’s involvement with the UCONN show, “I Did your Mother?” What would she say to Dan about his abuse of females in meetings, most notably Councilwoman Deborah Kleckowski who asked a very innocent question about proper time with regard to vetting the new Deputy Police Chief? One can guess that Fluke would ignore Dan’s digressions with regard to women in this case because of the politics involved.

Did you read : http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/01/guest-blog-his-town.html

Saturday, January 26, 2013

(Sources) MSN & Today Show: Adam Lanza


An AR-15, or the so-called "Assault Weapon", was not used in the school shooting. The shooter even tried weeks (December 11, 2013) earlier to buy a rifle but was turned down in the background check. So he had to kill his Mother to steal her rifle. There were initial reports, right after the shooting, that pol...ice found the AR-15 in his car, NOT IN THE SCHOOL. The rifle was not used. The shooter went into the school with 4 handguns, NOT an Assault Rifle as the media has charged. I remember in the initial hours of this shooting, the Police said they found the rifle in the car. But the Administration-controlled MSM had a pre-planned attack already waiting, to ban so-called assault weapons and jumped on that line of reporting, knowing it was a lie, which included people like Piers Morgan who said the shooter used an AR-15 that shoots hundreds of rounds per minute, as if it were a machine gun. Could it be that the Democrat Liberals and THEIR MEDIA were pushing for the new law, hoping they could do it, before the Coroner released the info? Absolutely.

Sometimes we post articles like this for discussion purposes, not necessarily because it is our belief- The point? To prove that the degree of scrutiny readers apply has a lot to do with the source- MSN initially generated this theory yet are not being judged so severely like other sources- another point of discussion.

http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/50208495#50208495

Friday, January 25, 2013

From Sen. Chris Murphy: No More Assault Weapons

This e-mail came from  CT Senator Chris Murphy and ended up in the Insider's mailbox.

From: Chris Murphy

Subject: Today's announcement

Reply-To: Chris@chrismurphy.com

When I emailed you 13 days ago, I said that there had been 130 school shootings since assault weapons were used to murder 13 people at Columbine High School in 1999.With the tragic gun violence just two days ago at Lone Star College in Texas, that number is now sadly 131.

It’s been 41 days since an assault weapon was used to take 26 innocent lives at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. When will we finally say that enough is enoughAssault weapons are designed to kill people—period. They don’t belong on our streets. They don’t belong at our malls or our churches, on our college campuses, or in the halls of our elementary schools.

Maybe now is finally the time.

There are voices rising up in Newtown and in cities and towns across America, coming together to demand immediate action to ban assault weapons. We can’t wait – we can’t stand idly by while one more innocent life is lost.

That’s why today, I joined my colleagues, Senators Dianne Feinstein, Chuck Schumer, and Richard Blumenthal, and Representatives Carolyn McCarthy, Ed Perlmutter, and Elizabeth Esty to introduce a new ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Now, make no mistake. The opponents of sensible gun control are gearing up for a nationwide fight, and they’ll stop at nothing to flood our communities with even more guns.

Add your name to our petition at NoMoreAssaultWeapons.com to join voices all across the country in our call for the House and Senate to pass the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 immediately.

I hope you’ll join us.
Every best wish,

Chris

Thursday, January 24, 2013

999 Comments!

Today we received our 999 published comment!  Will you be our 1,000th commenter?
Speaking of 999- tis tax season!  Federal taxes went up this year and the mil rate in Middletown is destined to go up atleast 2.4 mils or more! That's  at minimum $480 MORE out of your pocket in the name of Ol' M-town if your house is valued at $200,000.
 CURRENT MILLRATES:
Middletown + City Fire    32.70
Middletown - South Fire    3.648
Middletown - Westfield Fire    1.237
Middletown - City Fire    5.80
Middletown    26.90 So with the hike Democrats have caused, a home valued at 200k ( not counting cars) will bring in at least  $6,460.00 in taxes! Renters- you aren't in the clear- you can bet landlords will have to pass this burden on to you as well.
http://www.ct.gov/opm/cwp/view.asp?a=2987&q=385976
Speaking of taxes and 999 - Remember the Herman Cain 9-9-9 plan?

Cain stated the following summary about the 9–9–9 Plan:
"Our current economic crisis calls for bold action to truly stimulate the economy and Renew America back to its greatness. The 9–9–9 Plan gets Washington D.C. out of the business of picking winners and losers, using the tax code to dole out favors, and dividing the country with class warfare. It is fair, simple, transparent and efficient. It taxes everything once and nothing twice. It taxes the broadest possible base at the lowest possible rates. It is neutral with respect to savings and consumption,capital and labor, imports and exports and whether companies pay dividends or retain earnings."[1]http://www.hermancain.com/999plan

Guest Blog: Fred Carrol:City Government Is A Whore

Local activist

Guest Blogger Fred Carrol writes his thoughts about proposed zoning changes to the MX and ID zones and his thoughts on the development at the corner of Washington & Pearl Streets being proposed by Centerplan Development. All opinions of guest bloggers are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Insider staff. 
To learn more about Carrol read previously guest essays. Available here:http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/12/guest-blog-fred-carroll-on-washington.html   and
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/09/guest-blog-loitering-wars-update-by.html 
 In his own words:
"It occurs to me that certain elements in Middletown Government ARE A WHORE FOR CENTERPLAN.....[and at least one community action group....who are more of a "community act stunned" group, but of course it's easy to criticize]." Thus reads a recent Face Book post by me which prompted the Middletown Insider to solicit for an essay on the subject, and so here it is. Now, as a minimalist I would think it quite sufficient to simply describe the pertinent parties as whores, call Centerplan out on being slippery, slimy liars and, after apologizing for "stating the obvious" and "telling everyone what they already know" call the deal done. But there's a catch, you see, as is so often the case, no one is crazy enough to say what "everybody knows".

Which is to say there's no shortage of well informed, intelligent, principled citizens in Middletown, but for the most part everybody just has too much to lose by telling the truth as they know it. And of course there's certainly no shortage of folks who are "crazy enough" to say or do absolutely anything, but for the most part those people don't particularly know or care about Centerplan or who's who and what's what in Middletown Government, at least not until their Drug Dealer gets a Loitering Ticket, and then suddenly half the North End decide to get involved in "community activism"....so it falls to me, Dr. Freddy H. Carroll, and I'm not even a real "Doctor"! Yeah, sober, "invested" people who care have to much to lose, and the Less To Lose Crowd basically don't care about anything except where their next loose cigarette and lukewarm meal is coming from.....and of course they know both of those things and so don't care about much else, certainly not the fact that their government is selling their city CHEAP.....And that's it, "the City" just can't be generous enough with some "entities" at the expense of others, others meaning basically "the little people". "Well Fred", I can almost hear someone say, "That's some tough talk, of course you have the facts to back all that up, right?"

No, I have no facts, you couldn't "prove" or "disprove" anything by me, but there are plenty of people who could substantiate my statements short of using such explicit language as "whore" and "liar"; and when I see these people sit at a "community action group" meeting with their hand in the air for half an hour and then get three minutes in which to make their every point or not get even three minutes to take Centerplan and their peanut gallery of Bill and Peter to task, I say to myself; "Somebody has to speak truth to power here, hear?"

So in closing, if you want to convince me that I'm wrong about whores and liars let me see you convince Ed McKeon or Catherine Johnson in a fair debate and then I'll reconsider my choice of words, but until then I'll call Middletown Government a whore and Centerplan a smarmy liar all day every day.....

Fred Carrol

Apple, Oranges & BOE Budget Hikes

 While the proposed Board of Education budget for the 2013-2014 fiscal year makes some budget cuts to try and balance the books, areas when increases spending is called for is presented in  misleading ways. The proposed budget has an increase of 7.8% which is sure to raise the mil rate significantly for tax payers when coupled  Mayor Drew's budget calling for City increases in spending A link to the BOE budget is below, which was NOT available before the BOE's meeting on Tuesday. Unlike the Frechette budgets of legend, this budget is somewhat broken down, but still not a transparent  detailed line by line item budget many tax payers have called for.

 BOE Budget can be read here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1OYjxtLEgUwaGNXN1JMckk5RVE/edit
Why is this budget so high & why will taxes go up?Apples & Oranges Logic: Dr. Charles told various media  that the increase is partly caused by "technology". Note that technology acquisitions are normally considered capital acquisitions. The law makes a distinction between a school district's operating funds, over which it has virtually unlimited discretion and control, and capital purchases, which are subject to local (i.e., the Common Council) control.

With all due respect to the Superintendent, you're being snookered here - even if it's unintentional. A capital expenditure is one that happens intermittently, not annually. It's the difference between buying a computer, which will have an extended life expectancy, and paying a teacher's salary, which is an ongoing, operational obligation. Giving the BOE money to buy computer equipment will unnecessarily raise the City's MBR obligation, so don't fall for it!

 
A better solution will be for the City to purchase the equipment, optimally through the City's IT Department which, coincidentally, is proposed by the Mayor (déjà vu to when Mayor Giuliano who FIRST proposed this which was shot down by the Democratic controlled council) to assume BOE operations.

Winsley: Take the 2nd Amendment as Seriously as the 1st or Shut up! (It could be the law)

Re-posted from the blog of conservative commentator and challenger to Senator Rosa DeLauro last election cycle Wayne Winsley. Republished as a courtesy to readers and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Insider staff.

Originally posted on Winsley's blog below

 Take the 2nd Amendment as Seriously as the 1st or Shut Up! (It could be the law)

To those strident voices who are, in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, calling for the abolition of the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because it is old and outdated, I offer this.

The 1st Amendment, ratified 222 years ago, guarantees your freedom of speech. You may not like what I say, but I get to say it, AND you get to disagree with me without fear of being locked up or shut up.

The 19th Amendment, ratified 93 years ago, protects the voting rights of women. Frankly, I've heard my wife, my mother and my sister say things that make me cringe at the very idea that they get to help elect our leadership. (I love you ladies dearly) But guess what? That freedom should always remain.

In my humble opinion, the rap star Flavor Flav (google him) is as dumb as a box of rocks, but his right to enter a voting booth and fill out a ballot is sacred according to the 143 year old, 15th Amendment and it should remain so.

Only one time has the U.S. Constitution been amended in the direction of restricting freedom, that was the short-lived Eighteenth Amendment which brought us Prohibition and a flourishing black market in alcohol. It lasted only 13 years and was overruled. The people's right to drunken debauchery shall not be infringed.

Should the President be able to repeal, by executive order, the 222 year old, 2nd Amendment? The answer is no! Remember, the U.S. Constitution was written with the express purpose of limiting the power of the Federal Government. The Federal Government cannot now remove amendments to suit a given agenda.

The constitution of the United States is the bedrock of our freedom and should only be amended in the direction of expanding our liberties and not restricting them.

Everyone should be concerned when government begin talking about restricting our freedoms.
Whether you have a black or brown face, whether you shave your legs before going out, like to enjoy a beer during the playoffs or blog your content or discontent with our current President, your rights are being protected.
Persons who own guns deserve to have that right protected as well.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Your Daily Spin by the Middletown Mess:When the Numbers Don't Add Up

Daily Spin: Response to City & BOE Consolidation of Legal Services

There has been an article in some of the news outlets regarding a memorandum of understanding between the City and the BOE regarding the BOE using the City's legal staff rather than hire outside attorneys.
The article stated that the administration wanted to go back to pre-2008 staffing levels.  For this year, 2012, the City is increasing it's current staffing levels from an Acting City Attorney, vacant Deputy City Attorney position and a secretary to a City Attorney (already hired), two Deputy City Attorneys (one already hired and one scheduled to be hired in the spring) plus the secretary.  The Risk Manager's part of the department currently has three full time employees.  This is leading us to believe that the City previously had
that level of staffing.  However, in the approved budget for the year ending 6/30/2009, there was a City Attorney, one Deputy City Attorney and a Legal Secretary as had been budgeted for the year ending
6/30/2008.  A second Deputy City Attorney was requested but not funded.  At one time, for a short time, the office was staffed with a paralegal who first started as a part-time employee and then becamefulltime; after that employee received her law license, she was appointed as an additional Deputy City Attorney.  She subsequently left the City for other employment.  Should be noted that this former employee was one of the original applicants for the City Attorney position and not chosen.  The article is misleading in that except for a short period of time, the office has only had ONE Deputy City Attorney.
Also, the article claimed that the City has been able to settle some 30 some odd pieces of litigation stating further that numerous grievances and suits were settled by working with the Mayor, BOE and the union.  It should be noted however that the majority of the "30" legal issues were union grievances that did not necessarily require legal representation on the part of the City or the BOE.  These were grievances filed the employee through the union and were to be heard by a panel at the state labor board; the fee to do so is approximately $25.00 per party and did not necessarily rise to the level of requiring the attendance of an attorney at several hundreds of dollars per hour.  As part of the agreement the BOE insisted on keeping the illegal hire , Councilwoman Hope Kasper's son inlaw, whom she had a direct hand in hiring. Hmm. The hearing of grievances by the Labor Board is a matter of stating the facts and the specific part of the union contract violated to the panel and then waiting for their response; sometimes, the panel will request that the positons of both sides be submitted in writing
but generally it's straightforward: how did the employer violate the contract??  BTW, there is still a grievance out there to be heard and also an outstanding law suit not settled as of yet.

According to the paperwork handed out by the BOE at the workshop regarding their budget for object code 392 Legal Services for 2011-2012 the actual expenditure was $147,177.48; $100,000 was
appropriated bor the 2012-2013 budget and for the 2013-2014 budget $154,220 is being requested, an additional $54,220.00 over the current budgeted amount.  In the overall budget for the BOE, $147,177 doesn't seem extreme but it should be noted that much of what was paid for the outside attorneys for services rendered for the issues between the BOE and the City were paid for from the City's Insurance and Claims Fund and not the above referenced object code in the BOE's budget.  Monies in the Insurance and Claims Fund are reserved generally for payment for pending claims and suits against the City plus claims resulting from storms etc. and deductibles, and should the fund be insufficient after the payment of funds not planned for, an appropriation from the General Fund will be necessary to meet those obligations when and if
they arise.  If the BOE is expecting to have to pay less for legal expenses, one would assume that we will see the request for $154,220 be reduced.  Right??

CT Public Hearings Regarding Second Amendment


Press Release: Connecticut:  Make Plans to Attend Upcoming Public Hearings to Protect Your Second Amendment Rights 
Since the Connecticut General Assembly convened its 2013 legislative session, anti-gun legislators have been aggressively pursuing arbitrary and unconstitutional legislation that would victimize law-abiding gun owners.  However, you have a chance to stand up for freedom and voice your opposition to these misguided anti-gun proposals. 
The “Task Force on Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety” will be holding several important public hearings to discuss school safety, gun violence and mental health.  It is important that pro-Second Amendment supporters show up to these hearings to voice their opposition to any reactionary anti-gun legislation.  We need our elected officials to understand that restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners is not the appropriate solution to reduce crime.
Please make plans to attend the following public hearings:
School Safety Working Group Public Hearing
Friday, January 25th, 2013
Legislative Office Building
9:30 a.m., Room 2C

“Gun Violence” Prevention Working Group Public Hearing
Monday, January 28th, 2013
Legislative Office Building
10:00 a.m., Room 2C

Mental Health Working Group Public Hearing
Tuesday, January 29th, 2013
Legislative Office Building
10:00 a.m., Room 2C

Full Bi-Partisan Task Force Public Hearing
Wednesday, January 30th, 2013
Newtown High School
6:00 p.m. 

It is crucial that gun owners, sportsmen and supporters of the Second Amendment attend these hearings and firmly voice their opposition to ineffective anti-gun legislation that turns the law-abiding into victims.  These public hearings will determine the direction the General Assembly will take with our gun rights. Therefore, it is important that you also contact your state legislators TODAY and tell them to oppose laws that do nothing to stop crime but only penalize the law-abiding.
Contact information for your state legislators can be found by clicking here

Putting it in Perspective!

For discussion purposes, views do not necessarily reflect views of Insider Staff:
SEE IF I GOT THIS RIGHT!!!

IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER
ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOR.

IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER
ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY.

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER
ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT.

IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER
ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER
ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN.

IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER
ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED.

IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY
YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

IF YOU CROSS THE U.S. BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET !!!

A JOB, A DRIVERS LICENSE,
SOCIAL SECURITY CARD, WELFARE,
FOOD STAMPS, CREDIT CARDS,
SUBSIDIZED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE,
FREE EDUCATION, FREE HEALTH CARE,
A LOBBYIST IN WASHINGTON BILLIONS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF PUBLIC DOCUMENTS PRINTED IN YOUR LANGUAGE

THE RIGHT TO CARRY YOUR COUNTRY'S FLAG WHILE YOU
PROTEST THAT YOU DON'T GET ENOUGH RESPECT
AND, IN MANY INSTANCES, YOU CAN VOTE.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Kids Artspace 2013 Heart Art Event

Kids Artspace 2013 Heart Art Event [Jan 26th, 2013]

: Kids HEART Event/ Cupcake Decorating Party
If you plan to attend let us know and receive a sweet treat by adding your name to our "attending" list on our Facebook Event Page
Come Support the ARTS with Kids Artspace at Nora Cupcake Company
2013 HEART Event @ NoRA Cupcake Company 700 Main Street, Middletown CT 06457
Saturday Jan, 26 2013 1:00p - 4:00p
Children of all ages are welcome.
All art will be donated to Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Pledge to: MAKE ART FROM YOUR HEART!
Pledges can be made at www.kidsartspace.org/heartpledge
Date: 
Jan 26 2013
Time: 
1:00 pm
Image 1: 

Your Daily Spin: Hyper Hyperbole

Rep. Matt Lesser (D) and bff Mayor Dan Drew went to President Obama's inauguration this past weekend. Drew's wife's family and Lesser's family are both from the DC area, so no doubt it was a good opportunity to visit family as well and rub elbows with the up & up- we take no issue with this everyone should get a break. The two also sent photos from the Democratic National convention, the Mayor sent photos of himself posed with celebrities in attendance. It is assumed the state Democratic Committee paid  the convention trip.  Last spring coincidentally during the height of  cherry  blossom season, taxpayers funded a trip (read here)home to see the fam for Drew under the guise of his desperately needing to meet with CT Rep. Rosa DeLauro at the capital to expedite an already underway process of getting the army lands in  the Westfield section back in the hands of the City. But the Insider ask's why send photos of yourself to the local media and claim you are representing Middletown? Can't you just be honest, and say you took a little vacation? Spin it baby!
While in DC, Drew and Lesser went to the Murphy celebrations with Big Dan aka Gov. Dannel Malloy. 
Are rumors around City Hall say Drew has been picked up Senator Chris Murphy's administration, and may be packing his bags this spring true? 
Pics from the road trip published in Middltown Patch:
http://middletown-ct.patch.com/articles/matt-lesser-dan-drew-represent-middletown-at-awe-inspiring-inauguration-00072b42#photo-13067726

The Edge Tonight on Comcast

From the Edge: Tonight (January 22, 2013) on Comcast Channel 15, The Edge starring Jon Pulino and William Wilson will feature the local talents of artist Luke Reinwald a recent graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, who will on hand to discuss his art and his work at the KIDS ARTSPACE studio located on South Main in Middletown.  Local Middletown musician Tony Villaba will entertain the crowd with 3-4 orignal songs, while Jarod Doyon, a Meriden resident and mascot for The Hartford Whale/New Britain Rockcats will attend in order to converse with the hosts about the art of putting on a costume and entertaining children.  As per a live show unusual and unexpected things can and will happen.  Will William Wilson make the political announcement of his career?  Has Jon Pulino overused his Christopher Walken impression?  Where will the crew go out to eat after the show and if so where? (Answer: Whoever has the cheapest specials).

 The show airs live at 8:00 P.M. and as always, the show takes live calls at 860-613-3031.

Wilson FOI Results: Transparency? Not Really.

Over a month ago Republican Town Committee Vice Chair William Wilson sent an FOI request to the City of Middletown asking for answers to a variety of public information questions. His letter was sent on December 18, 2012. On January 4th, 2013 the Insider asked readers to help out by sending in copies of the same letter to try and get answers. By law, the only documents that fall under FOI are those already created, however, the fact that the answers to some of the questions below have no existing documentation by the Water Department is  troubling fact in itself! Only a receipt was provided for the plane ticket to China, no report as promised or itinerary from Mayor Drew Director Guy Russo of the Water & Sewer Department finally answered a few of the questions Wilson proposed on January 13, 2012, over 30 days later. By law, a response must be given in 4 days as to status. The memo was dated on Dec. 21, but was not emailed from the City until January 13 due to an"internal glitch", however it still shows that according to the email trail, Director Russo did not respond to the Town Clerk,who followed proper procedure, until January 11..  No word on the existing report that cost the City $10K in April of 2012 but never presented to the Council, that was conducted by an outside investigation team to determine why the department was loosing money so rapidly. This was mentioned in greater detail by the Letter to the Editor by John Milardo: His Town

Wilson's Original Letter and list of questions can be found here:
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/01/we-need-your-help.html

On Fri, 1/11/13, Russo-Driska, Sandra MiddletownCT.gov> wrote:

From: Russo-Driska, Sandra
MiddletownCT.gov>
Subject: FW: FOI Reuest - William Wilson
To: "'William wilson'"
Cc: "Russo, Guy"
Date: Friday, January 11, 2013, 4:14 PM

Bill,

This was apparently sent via interoffice email, however, due to an apparent glitch at our end, I do not have it in my FOI folder, sent box, or deleted box.  I apologize.  Here is Director Russo's response to your FOI request.

Let me know if you need further assistance.

Sandra Russo-Driska
Town Clerk
__________________________________________
From: Russo, Guy
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 4:09 PM
To: Russo-Driska, Sandra
Cc: DeSena, Linda
Subject: FW: FOI Reuest - William Wilson

Memo: Original here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1OYjxtLEgUwMFJNck10b01SeFU/edit
To: Sandra Driska-Russo, City and Town Clerk

From: Guy P. Russo, Director of Water & Sewer

Date: December 21, 2012

Re: William Wilson, FOI Request of December 18, 2012

Please note that in response to item numbers 1 – 4 of the subject FOI Request, that the Water & Sewer Department Offers the following:

1.How many discharges from the sewer treatment located at 100 River Road have there been in the last 5 years?  How many gallons per discharge into the Connecticut River during that time? Please provide any DEP reports of spillage & discharge for the last 5 years.
1) The Water and Sewer Department has a total of 219 pages of paper reports filed with DEEP (nee DEP) addressing this information request. We request prepayment of reproduction costs at the rate of $0.50/page, for a total of $109.50. Please advise if this is acceptable to the requester, and if so when prepayment has been received by your office, and we will provide the copies. Please advise.

2. Please provide me the relevant reports to disclose any and all spills into the Connecticut River stemming from Middletown's sewage treatment plant and relevant systems dating back five years. Have there been any other spills as documented by the City of Middletown into the Connecticut river where sewage has been discharged or overflowed? Please provide any and all  bypass reports.
2)  The Water and Sewer Department has a total of 9 pages of paper reports filed with DEEP (nee DEP) addressing this information request. We request prepayment of reproduction costs at the rate of $0.50/page, for a total of $4.50. Please advise if this is acceptable to the requester, and if so when prepayment has been received by your office, and we will provide the copies. Please advise.

3. Please provide documentation to answer the following question: Have there been any fines due to discharges or spills during the past five years to the Water and Sewer department? If so, when, why and for what amount?
3)  The Water and Sewer Department has no documents responsive to this request.

4.Please provide information regarding billing oversight at the Water & Sewer department. How many billing complaints have been filed in the past five years? How many customers have been misbilled? Please provide a record of this and the remedy.
4)  With regards to this inquiry, I request that Mr. Wilson be asked for specifics as I am not sure what more specific documents/reports he is looking for. If there are specific reports or documents, I will then be able to adequately respond. Additionally, some of this request would involve the creation of documents/reports that do not exist. Please inquire of Mr. Wilson as to how he would like to proceed.

Cc: Mayor Daniel Drew Timothy Lynch, City Attorney

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