How About Before 2010, Plus: Hoping Quick Cure For Curwen And Meeting On The Lake

News and Events, State Politics64 Comments

Will these pols make up their minds! If the Dems had done this from the beginning maybe there’d be a deal. Do they have any clue? From Ken Dixon of the Connecticut Post:

HARTFORD – One step forward, then another step back, is the way the precarious budget talks with Gov. M. Jodi Rell are teetering, majority Democrats announced Wednesday after claiming that they offered to lower their proposed tax hikes on Connecticut’s highest earners.

“She’s just protecting the wealthiest folks in the state of Connecticut at this point in time,” Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams, D-Brooklyn, said after a nearly two-hour session in Rell’s Capitol office. “That’s wrong. Everybody needs to sacrifice. We’re asking that everybody step up, especially the wealthy.”

Williams and Speaker of the House Christopher G. Donovan told reporters they have proposed $2.8-billion in spending cuts, but Rell refuses to approve tax hikes on the state’s wealthy.

Still, they said there’s a chance that a deal could be reached quickly, before the end of the month. The House and Senate have scheduled business sessions for August 27.

“We believe we had options on the table that she was interested in, she wanted time to look at them and she indicated to us she would have some positive information,” said Donovan, who was optimistic Tuesday but disappointed Wednesday. “We came in today and it was pretty much where we’ve been. It’s as if the governor doesn’t understand the real need for a budget.”

The Democrat’s previously proposed 6-percent tax on joint incomes over $500,000 would result in an extra $20 a week for wealthy families. Donovan said they revised the hike from the current 5-percent tax, but declined to elaborate.

Curwen Hospitalized

Speedy recovery to City Councilman Bob Curwen who’s suffering from a severe infection in St. Vincent’s Medical Center after stepping on a nail more than a week ago. Curwen, who represents the 138th District and is co-chair of the Budgets and Appropriations Committee, was helping out a friend when the accident occurred. Curwen, a diabetic, was awaiting results of an MRI when I spoke to him late Wednesday afternoon.

Bob has been a patient in the medical center for several days. Mayor Bill Finch was among his visitors on Wednesday. Let’s all hope for the best.

Lake Meeting Tonight

North End Community Council – Lake Forest Association Community Forum

August 20, 2009, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Lake Forest Association Clubhouse
424 Frenchtown Road, Bridgeport, CT

The Organizations

Lake Forest Association (LFA): The Lake Forest Association is a private neighborhood association, founded in 1942 for the purpose of maintaining the man-made lake, Lake Forest (formerly Island Brook Reservoir) for comprehensive aquatic recreational purposes for the membership, as well as maintaining the environment and quality of life of the surrounding neighborhood (approximately 1 sq. mile) in the northeastern corner of Bridgeport, CT.

The civic strength of the Lake Forest Association and Lake Forest neighborhood and name-sake city sector (consisting of some 600-700 households) — both representative of the demographic diversity of the city of Bridgeport — imparts leadership and partnership roles to the LFA; hence the LFA role in this evening’s community forum…

Contact Info (hall rentals, etc.): Phone: 203-371-7671; E-mail: LakeForestAssociation@gmail.com

The North End Community Council (NECC): The NECC is a not-for-profit, 501 (c) (3), civic organization, dedicated to serving the citizens of Bridgeport, CT, with a particular focus on the neighborhoods of the eastern North End… (Registered with the US Government/Internal Revenue Service and the State of Connecticut/Secretary of State’s Office)

The general mission of the NECC is the identification and elimination of the impediments to the social and economic progress and general well-being of the people of the eastern North End of Bridgeport as well as the Bridgeport community at large…

The NECC has sponsored a full range of civic/charitable programs – from the Trumbull Gardens Food Bank to the Trumbull Gardens Youth Baseball and Basketball Leagues — for over a decade… The NECC has maintained a leadership/advocacy role for the communities of the eastern North End through the agendas of four different city administrations…

Contact Information: Phone – 203-394-7678; E-mail – NECCBPT@aol.com; USPS address – P.O. Box 5386

*(Program Note: Tonight’s community forum is the third event in the on-going successful civic/community partnership of the NECC and LFA…)

The Program/Forum Format

7:00 PM – 7:20 PM — Introduction/statements of officials and candidates

7:20 PM – 8:00 PM — 3 Official Questions from each organization directed to specified officials/candidates (to be presented by the NECC and LFA moderators)…

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM — 10 questions from the public (written on index cards) directed to specified officials/candidates (5 from each organization), to be selected by volunteers from each organization from among the questions submitted by the public during the first hour of the forum…

9:00 PM -9:30 PM — Meet-and-greet for public and candidates/officials + light refreshment…

(Forum moderators: NECC – Audrey Barr; LFA – Doris Leger)
Officials/Candidates

Mayor’s Office – Mayoral Chief of Staff Adam Wood

Bridgeport Police Department: Police Chief Joseph Gaudett; Deputy Chief James Honis

Councilpersons, 134th District: Michele Lyons; AmyMarie Vizzo-Paniccia

Councilpersons, 135th District: Warren Blunt; Richard Bonney

Council Candidates 134th District — D: Michele Lyons; AmyMarie Vizzo-Paniccia
R: Joseph Leonetti; Donald Pavia

Council Candidates 135th District – D *(primary): Warren Blunt; Richard Bonney;
Peter Clarke; Rev. Mary Lee; Isa Mujahid
R: William Pavia; Adam Peplau

Board of Education Candidates: D — Leticia Colon; Patrick Crossin; Bobby Simmons
R — Sauda Baraka; Raul Quiroga; Nate Snow

Town Committee Chairs: DTC — Mario Testa; RTC — Mark Delmonico

D and R District Leaders: (D) 134th – Dennis Scinto; (D) 135th – Warren Blunt
(R) 134th — Michael Moretti; (R) 135th — William Pavia

General Assembly: (126th) State Rep. Chris Caruso; (22nd) State Senator Anthony Musto
(23rd) Senator Ed Gomes

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64 comments

      1. Lennie,

        Yahooy and Anna hooking up at Captain Jack’s?

        Interesting visualization as Captain Jack’s ended up becoming a bar for transvestites. Hey, if the shoe or dress fits?

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  4. Here’s a good drinking song (written and sung by Merle Haggard):

    Each night I leave the barroom when it’s over
    Not feeling any pain at closing time
    But tonight your memory found me much too sober
    Couldn’t drink enough to keep you off my mind

    Tonight the bottle let down
    and let your memory come around
    The one true friend I thought I’d found
    Tonight the bottle let down

    I’ve always had a bottle I could turn to
    And lately I’ve been turning everyday
    But the wind don’t take effect the way it used to
    And I’m hurting in an old familiar way

    Tonight the bottle let down
    and let you memory come around
    The one true friend I thought I’d found
    Tonight the bottle let down

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    1. Wading through the waste stormy winter
      And there’s not a friend to help you through
      Trying to stop the waves behind your eyeballs
      Drop your reds drop your greens and blues

      Thank you for your wine, California
      Thank you for your sweet and bitter fruits
      Yes, I’ve got the desert in my toenail
      And I hid the speed inside my shoe

      But come on come on down sweet Virginia
      Come on honey child I beg of you

      Come on come on down you got it in you
      Got to scrape that shit right off your shoes

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  6. Joel Gonzalez,

    Yes, I do believe that Jim Himes, Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder would mess with their “base.” Let’s look at the facts here …

    Obama mobilized African American and Latino voters in a way no one ever thought possible. Dreamt of it, to be sure, but seeing it in action? Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, they both saw it as a pipe dream. There’s just too much misleading information out there, too many entrenched interest groups that feel their way of life is threatened by a large Democratic turnout on any given election day. (The spread of gossip and rumor surrounding Mr. Obama’s healthcare plan is a good example. Lots of false information making the rounds.) Remember Pat Buchanan slobbering and drooling and foaming at the mouth about a “cultural war” in America? The last gasp of an elitist culture dominated by angry, rich white men, more likely.

    Bridgeport is experiencing something similar. The entrenched political establishment is beginning to realize that it ain’t all that entrenched. Mario Testa has been exposed for a quack. How can a man that refers to his fellow citizens as “mulignans,” “spics” and “schwartzes” (and much worse) be thought of as the leader of the DEMOCRATIC party in Bridgeport? How are the members of the DTC able to show any respect at all to this man? He is not concerned with the best interests of the people of the city of Bridgeport. Hell, he ain’t even concerned with what’s best for the rank-and-file members of the DTC.

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    1. “The spread of gossip and rumor surrounding Mr. Obama’s healthcare plan is a good example. Lots of false information making the rounds.”

      The allegations of Mario’s alleged racist remark is a much better example of gossip and rumors. It may well be a “false” allegation. As for Obama’s real healthcare plan, go the link that I posted last night. I fear Obama more than Mario to tell you the truth. In the years that I have known Mario, one thing I can say is that he never made racist remarks in my presence and he never tried to influence my vote in the 6 years that I served on the City Council.

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  7. “Oh Lennie boy, the pipes the pipes are calling …”

    I’d rather spend an afternoon listening to Caruso than that Unicorn song.

    Will someone take out that damn dam before the northeastern part of the North End floods out the southern end of the city? Plenty of room for Mafia-constructed condos then!

    Oh by the way, I ain’t no mulignan you discriminating SOB-English lovers. I’m a mick and don’t you forget it. Now pass the butter for my baked potato.

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      1. How ’bout some Swamp Water?

        Ingredients:
        1/2 oz Vodka
        1/2 oz Midori melon liqueur
        1/2 oz Malibu rum
        1/2 oz Blue Curacao
        1/2 oz Pineapple juice
        1/2 oz Sweet and sour

        Mixing instructions:
        Pour over ice, shake and strain!

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  9. SO MUCH OF LIFE is subjective. But when the world’s best bar songs are chosen, I feel obligated to nominate my own: Dwight Yoakam’s Two Doors Down.

    www .youtube.com/watch?v=_1G5D3XYo9c

    This song is for those down-and-out times of your life when you’ve got The Hound Dog Blues. The lyrics are fantastic. Good songwriters know how to paint a picture.
    This one puts you at a windswept hotel bar at the end of a stormy relationship.

    (tears)

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    1. Thanks for reminding me what a great lyricist Mr. Yoakam is. The following is my personal favorite. It’s called
      “South of Cincinnati”.

      If you ever get south of Cincinnati down where the dogwood trees grow
      If you ever get south of the Mason Dixon to the home you left so long ago
      If you ever get south of the Ohio River down where Dixieland begins
      If you ever get south of Cincinnati I’ll be yours again

      She pulled the letter from the pages of her Bible
      And a rose pressed inside the Book of Luke
      For fourteen years she’d write each day but keep it hidden
      Refused to even speak his name, but still she wrote

      Chorus:
      If you ever get south of Cincinnati down where the dogwood trees grow
      If you ever get south of the Mason Dixon to the home you left so long ago
      If you ever get south of the Ohio River down where Dixieland begins
      If you ever get south of Cincinnati I’ll be yours again

      At a cold gray apartment in Chicago
      A cigarette drowns inside a glass of gin
      He lies there drunk, but it don’t matter drunk or sober
      He’ll never read the words that pride won’t let her send

      Chorus:
      If you ever get south of Cincinnati down where the dogwood trees grow
      If you ever get south of the Mason Dixon to the home you left so long ago
      If you ever get south of the Ohio River down where Dixieland begins
      If you ever get south of Cincinnati I’ll be yours again
      Then I’ll be yours again

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  10. Bridgeport has always been a multicultural town. According to E Podunk, The Park City’s ethnographic makeup breaks down like this:

    · Black or African American – 31%
    · Puerto Rican – 23%
    · Italian – 9%
    · West Indian (excluding Hispanic groups) – 7%
    · Irish – 5%
    · Jamaican – 4%
    · Portuguese – 3%
    · Other Hispanic or Latino – 3%
    · Polish – 3%
    · German – 3%
    · English – 2%
    · Mexican – 2%
    · Hungarian – 2%
    · Subsaharan African – 2%
    · Haitian – 1%
    · South American – 1%
    · French (except Basque) – 1%
    · Brazilian – 1%
    · Slovak – 1%
    · Central American: – 1%
    · Vietnamese – 1%
    · Russian – 1%
    · French Canadian – 1%
    · Cuban – 1%
    · Asian Indian – 1%
    · African – 1%
    · Dominican Republic – 1%
    · Colombian – 1%
    · Cape Verdean – 1%

    I wonder if Calamaro Grande and his son Calamaro Piccolo have slurs for all of the above-named ehnicities …

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  11. DEBUNKING A MYTH: diversity isn’t a benefit, it’s just a trait.

    What we’re witnessing is the rise of the unmeltable ethnic.

    All Ethnic groups want to retain their ethnicity.

    And when they look at America, they see the world’s biggest debtor and a country without a culture, hardly the kind of place that promotes citizenship.

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    1. What Pat Buchanan was gassing off about was the fading dominance of Eurocentric (i.e., WHITE) culture, which prevailed until the ’80s when African American and Latino cultural trends began to dominate popular media. Think rap, hip hop, how every male under the age of 25 or so is wearing baggy pants and a baseball cap mounted sideways. Think of the music blaring from car stereos. Think of the music blaring from the ethnocentric grocery stores, the DVDs offered for sale, the religious images.

      I’m on the street a good part of the day. I hear it, I see it, I feel it.

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  12. “The Bridgeport Kid,” you said “The entrenched political establishment is beginning to realize that it ain’t all that entrenched. Mario Testa has been exposed for a quack. How can a man that refers to his fellow citizens as “mulignans,” “spics” and “schwartzes” (and much worse) be thought of as the leader of the DEMOCRATIC party in Bridgeport? How are the members of the DTC able to show any respect at all to this man? He is not concerned with the best interests of the people of the city of Bridgeport. Hell, he ain’t even concerned with what’s best for the rank-and-file members of the DTC.” I have a question for you, is this something that you think & feel or is this known fact by others?

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    1. The Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee is not representative of the city’s population. That’s not a feeling, that’s an observation. If it is not representative it cannot be responsive to the needs of the communities that it fails to represent. At least a few people are privy to the hypocrisy of Mario Testa; some of these observations get posted here, like this piece posted two days ago by Bruce Lee:

      “What would they say if they heard Mario and his nephew in their kitchen talking about the mulignans and the spics. No offense Mojo and Joel. They are both racists who have no respect for most of the DTC members; in fact they show disdain and contempt behind their backs. Yet the DTC members, most of whom are city employees, bow down to Mario every chance they get.”

      Remember that the name of the organization is the DEMOCRATIC Town Committee. Let’s analyze what the word ‘democracy’ means. According to the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, democracy has more than one definition:

      1 a : government by the people; especially : rule of the majority.
      b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.
      2 : a political unit that has a democratic government.
      3 capitalized : the principles and policies of the Democratic party in the United States.
      4 : the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority.
      5 : the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges

      In reference to the third definition, the national party’s platform is summed up thusly on their website: “The Democratic Party has a long and proud history of representing and protecting the interests of working Americans and guaranteeing personal liberties for all.”

      That does not sound like something the Bridgeport “Democratic” Town Committee is focused on, not even for personal amusement. How ’bout #4, “the common people especially when constituting the source of political authority.” The common people of the city of Bridgeport DO NOT constitute the source of political authority. Voter turnout is abysmal in Bridgeport. It was very good last November when everyone was gassed about Barack Obama, but the turnout is pathetic for local races, for the City Council, the state legislature, etc. People stay home because the choice of candidates hasn’t been all that wonderful. So the DTC district leadership rounds up a few blue-rinsed widows and matrons, a few drug addicts and alcoholics, and voila! The DTC’s candidates get elected due to voter antipathy rather than “through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections.” The last time the status quo was seriously challenged, Chris Caruso came within 170 votes of winning a primary. That’s not a wide margin.

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      1. Definition #5, “the absence of hereditary or arbitrary class distinctions or privileges,” doesn’t apply in Bridgeport, because there are arbitrary class distinctions and privileges, like the DTC member’s wife that came up to me on the street a couple of weeks ago simply to flaunt her position with a quick mouth and a bad attitude. Pretty cocky for a cleaning lady.

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    2. *** Down South, it’s known who & where the white wolves are, no secrets. They & people of color know the boundaries & the possibilities behind them. Here in the Northeast, they’re more like fox in sheep’s clothing with no boundaries to really be concerned about, however it’s much more of a D/L type of attitude and racial tensions can arise @ a drop of a hat sometimes! *** So please, don’t believe the hype or the thou are my bro routines. *** Always pays to watch your back! ***

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  13. OIB RUMOR MILL:

    TBK is so intelligent that he memorized all those stats for his two previous posts and is not sitting in a comfort-cooled library cubicle with a water fountain/soda machine nearby while using a city-maintained computer for which he has a personalized password.

    Here’s the hard-to-believe part: Every day at 2pm, the staff buys delivered pizza for the whole crowd, which now hovers over a dozen, and stands ready to answer their questions while clearing their paper plates.

    Why it’s not a perfect world: Sorry, you gotta buy your own Coca-Cola.

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  15. Why Lennie lives in dreamland:

    Every day, he wakes up; scans The Post’s headlines and writes his story. Easy, right?

    Meanwhile, the faithful prepare for the day’s activities by grooming themselves en route the local library where they will become his servants. As their posts drip in, he quickly monetizes them and extracts a buck.

    Conclusion: The City of Bridgeport subsidizes Lennie by creating and maintaining the support network needed to produce posts and consequently enables Lennie to monetize them via advertisements and product placements.
    He does this from a thriving suburban enclave, keeping himself miles away from the “streets of fire” that his streetwise buddy, The Bridgeport Kid, knows so much about.

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    1. What’s wrong with what Lennie is doing or where he does it from? Aren’t you blogging here too and doing it from Trumbull? Lennie is living the “American dream” by participating in the same Capitalist system we all have equal access to. Do you not do the same with OPICs? (Not in reference to One Person Intellectually Challenged.)

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      1. “Not in reference to One Person Intellectually Challenged”? Of course it is! I heard ’bout it from Mr. Local Eyes the last time OIB got together at Matty’s Corner. Eyes was so obnoxious I couldn’t walk away to get some air. He’d follow me about, blathering and spewing that I needed to buy a computer at BAYM. What for, I dunno. He never got that far. (He did make it to the bar a number of times.)

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    2. The Gossip of The Rialto!

      Local Eyes is going cross-eyed or he must be cock-eyed.

      The Connecticut Post gets most of their stories from Lennie and OIB.

      Oh Pick Your Nose with a Rubber Hose!

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    3. Three more points that must be mentioned in Lennie’s defense. (1) Captain’s Cove (2) Matty’s Place and (3) Taco Loco. Do all these three Bridgeport businesses ring a bell? I hope so, because to Lennie it rang a “bill”.

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  16. The Bridgeport Kid

    Thanks for the numbers; very interesting that 23 percent are of Puerto Rican descent.

    Was Jamaica included with African descent??? ‘Cause when people ask me what am I, I always tell them Jamaican that is my background my parents are from there. I am very proud to be a Jamaican American! 4% is pretty high if you look at it because it’s just Jamaican alone and that’s it. Bridgeport has some of the best Jamaican restaurants and things that have to do with the culture.

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  17. There is NO REASON to trigger the statute penned by Jasper McLevy to protect libraries. It would result in higher taxes and remove the library from politically based discussion. I hope it is DEFEATED on August 24 and never appears on a ballot.

    I suspect the spirit of Jasper McLevy will circulate around the courthouse on Monday afternoon. If he could talk I think he’d say that the internet makes his statute obsolete and that the library should morph into an organization that purchases and supports computer-based learning on a citywide basis. As in fewer libraries, more home-based computers.

    Here’s the ticket: www .baym.org < -- right here in Bridgeport.

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      1. Send Local Eyes to a Pearle Vision Center. He needs a better pair of specs. Y’know how hard it is to see when your head is stuck up your ass.

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  18. Local Eyes is on the money … Too many people have moved from B’port or never lived here regardless and keep their businesses in Bridgeport (particularly the old, industrial dirty stuff). Profiting from B’port doom & gloom.

    Lennie is just another in a long line of people that make their fortunes from an old Northeastern, aged rust-belt city and then rush home to piece and tranquility …

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      1. Local Eyes,
        You live in Trumbull, and this entitles you to weigh in with your fifty cent’s worth on Bridgeport matters?

        I do know more, much more, about this city than you do. I’ve lived on and walked its streets, seen the place from the ground up. I learned of this town the hard way, not drinking a cup of Green Mountain while scanning the Daily Bugle. As soon as the town of Trumbull’s libraries have to circulate a petition in order to get more money, you can start gassing off as much as you want. The library referendum is a city-wide issue, not countywide.

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  19. When are you guys going to realize Bridgeport is roadkill on the way to Boston?
    Bridgeport Harbor? What about Port Elizabeth?
    Seaside Park? Jones Beach.
    Mount Mandanici? Let’s go skiing in Vermont.
    Black Rock? OK, there is the Swedish Club.

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  20. Hmmm, I go on vacation for 2 weeks and Lennie sold the blog to The Bridgeport Kid? And I thought donj made me want to jump off the Empire State. Memo to the Kid, fewer posts, and much fewer words in those fewer posts!

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  21. Obama and the Dems might just do it alone on health care … good for the Dems, don’t make the right-wing racist nuts try to stop health care … The Republicans were starting to fool me on health care … But the joke is over I am behind Mr. Obama and the Dem’s health care plan 100% … screw bipartisanship with these Republicans. All they want to do is try to win back the house like they did in 1994 when they blocked Clinton’s health care plan. These Republicans never learn will they? They appeal to the right-wing nuts like in farm towns with only 4,000 people living in these places and think they won’t lose!!!!!!!!! Example Shays won every town in the 4th district but the 3 cities he lost and you know what that meant??? It meant a Himes victory!!! In total Shays won 13 out of 16 and he still lost. So the Republicans are not going where the population is they like the rural country people and I will be damned if these people ruin health care. Great Job Obama, let’s do it alone and screw these rural Republicans.

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  23. Interesting reading. The news media is giving the president a fairly trouble-free pass. If Bush/Cheney were to try something of this magnitude the press would’ve been all over ’em like stink on shit.

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  24. The Bridgeport Kid

    You took it right out my mouth for wonderful Jamaican food Golden Krust is the best even though I only go there once a month because my mother makes homemade Jamaican food from scratch. But yeah Golden Krust is the best Jamaican restaurant in Bridgeport

    Grim

    Mmmm oxtail is my favorite dish, know you got be thinking about getting some tonight.

    This is what make our city so great, the diversity of it and learning about other cultures. I have all type of friends here, Spanish of all different types of backgrounds, I have white friends of many backgrounds too. It’s a great feeling when you get to learn of others’ history. That is why I don’t know how some people can be racist. Here in Black Rock I never felt out of place. The neighbors are white and they are some of the nicest people you could meet. My other neighbor is white on the second floor and 1st floor is Hispanic and they are nice people to. So my point is I feel that whites, Blacks and hispanics get along great in this city and we all learn how to appreciate each other better. But say you were living in a town like (Trumbull) it would be way different.

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    1. I lived in New Jersey ’til I was thirteen. We moved to a bedroom community outside of Hartford. It was lily-white, provincial beyond belief. I recall thinking, “where’d the other 70% of the population go?”

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  25. Why the heck is Local Eyes taking such a big stance on the library question and talking about vote no!!! You don’t even live here that question is off-limits to you buddy! At least Lennie lived here paid our taxes is involved and still is so give me a break. The only Thing you are a little correct about is that scumbag of a newspaper CT Post. Have you ever read the racist comments on there my god I could not believe it. I unsubscribed from them for some months now and would never spend another penny on that anti-Bridgeport and racist newspaper.

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  28. “The Bridgeport Kid,” you stated “The Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee is not representative of the city’s population. That’s not a feeling, that’s an observation. If it is not representative it cannot be responsive to the needs of the communities that it fails to represent.” Of the 90 Bridgeport Democratic Town Committee members what is the breakdown of blacks, Hispanics, whites and females and are those numbers representative of the communities of Bridgeport?

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