Oh boy, blogger forced me to make the switch to the new platform. People who have been using bloggers for years (like me) and praying that everything goes smoothly as the software is VERY buggy.

...crossing my fingers and hoping that everything works out. If anyone sees a problem with the site over the next week, please email me as I might not catch all the bugs with the new layout.

Thanks in advance.

Regarding the weather...STOP BITCHING! I love the cold and it's long overdue. If you want warmth, move south. I just want my kid to see her first good old fashion snow storm.

Regarding the update...still working out the kinks. I'm looking at various fonts for different sections and trying to decide which is best. I'm also looking for a cheap file server service where I can store audio files. I'm also just about finished with the backup to my laptop (60 gig) so I'll have time to get back to several local videos that I had to put on hold.

I really wish I can get back to speed with the thought of posts crashing scares me (it took a long time to get this site working again after the last crash). It seems wherever I go, people ask me, when is the new design going to happen? All I can say is that I'm working as fast as I can. If this was my full-time job, it would be different BUT when you have a new born kid to look after, working on a site is the least of my concerns.

Again, thanks for all the emails regarding Ken Krayeske's arrest. This story is getting a great deal of attention in the blogoshpere and Ken's first hearing will be on the 30th...hopefully the charges will be dropped.

I'm not a big fan of ONLY doing cut-and-paste posts that forwards you to a news article (we bloggers laugh and call that an obvious sign of an person who still has their training wheels on) nor do I really like doing too many crossposts as I think this site should concentrate on issues that primarily deal with the Danbury area (unless the post deals with a issue that effects the entire state as a whole i.e., Ken's arrest or Chris Dodd's campaign). With that, I promise you that I'll get back to original content here as soon as possible.

Now, ENJOY THE COLD :-)

Wow, it seems like State Rep. Jason Bartlett is working hard in his short time in office. Keeping to his campaign promise, Rep. Bartlett is working hard to make universal health care a reality in Connecticut and the freshman State Rep is using the power of People-Powered Media (PPM) to get his story out to the public. Read his article in the New Haven Indy and you'll see what I mean.

You see, unlike in other states, the progressive alternative media has proven to be a valuable tool to politicians who want to get their message out to the public. Unlike our conservative counterparts, the experience gained during the 2006 mid-term campaigns has made the progressive blogosphere in Connecticut an extremely powerful tool for individuals who want to get their message out to the public. Unlike out conservative counterparts nationally and statewide who are light years behind us, the progressive blogosphere are extremely popular among politicians, journalists, and the general public who are looking for a different avenue for news and commentary.

Case in point, the traffic generated on this local site alone now generates between 3,500 to 5,000 per month while the sister site ConnecticutBLOG is one of the more recognized state blogs in the country generating on average about 25,000 to 30,000 per month (with the largest month in terms of viewership being August with over 140,000 hits). Trust me, that nothing when you can compare my site to partners in PPM crime, My Left Nutmeg and Connecticut Local Politics but when you add all of our traffic together, the viewership numbers is staggering (just ask Joe Lieberman).

When you understand the advantages of PPM, your better able to get your message out to the public as well as get recognized quicker by members of the media who read progressive blogs daily...which brings us back to our wise Democratic freshman. Rep. Bartlett is wisely reaching out to the new form of media in order to get his universal health care message out to the public which in turn, gives him exposure without having to go the traditional route of sending endless press-releases to the traditional media and praying that a reporter gives him a call. Rep. Bartlett is generating a lot of buzz in the state and he's going to be a person of great interest to watch.

(SIDENOTE: traffic is not an exact science due to the fact that people can access your site without going to your URL. In order for a hit to be recorded, the reader needs to type in the URL or "hit" the site. Many progressives and heavy blog readers do not access the site by typing in the URL but instead use blog readers or use blog services where they can read more than one blog at a time. The best example of this is someone reading HatCityBLOG using Bloglines or a RSS readers.

Since a good percentage of progressives and heavy readers view blogs with an RSS reader, the actual amount of hits can never be exact. This is why it's always best to use an estimate based on several factors which include the amount of traffic generated in one day, the amount of hits you receive in one hour, etc. Over the years, I've fine-tuned a formula that I think best represents my actual traffic based on feedback from readers who don't access my site via URL but rather by RSS. Trust me, it gets too geeky and the whole thing can give you a headache but I'm told by many of the well known national bloggers that they go through the same thing).

(crosspost from ConnecticutBLOG)

I guess Senator Hagel got my memo.

One of Hagel's sparring partners is Lieberman, who has infuriated Democrats with his outspoken war advocacy. Two weeks ago, the Nebraska senator was introduced to the Internet video site YouTube when his son, an eighth-grader, showed him a clip from "Meet the Press" that was drawing heavy traffic. It was a showdown between Hagel and Lieberman over Iraq.

If critics of Bush's troop increase have their way, Lieberman asserted, the consequences "for my children and grandchildren, I fear, will be disastrous."

"That's ridiculous," Hagel shot back, "and I am offended that any responsible member of Congress or anyone else would even suggest such a thing. Senator Lieberman talks about his children and grandchildren. We all have children and grandchildren; he doesn't have a market on that."

As of today, my videoclip of Senator Hagel tearing Lieberman to shreds, has been viewed over 47,000 times. Here's a few more stats.

#42 - Top Rated (This Month) - News & Blogs - All
#370 - Most Discussed (This Month) - All
#50 - Most Discussed (This Month) - News & Blogs - All.

This war is a joke and thank goodness for people like veteran Chuck Hagel who (unlike many Democrats) has the guts to put idiotic, no military experience, delusional, neo-cons like George Bush's favorite Democrat in his place.

...and it's nice to know that 47,000+ share my opinion.

Things are back to normal with the computer and I should be back to reporting on local stuff by Monday (if all goes well). The first thing the guys at Apple told me to do was backup everything on my system so that's my next goal right now.

Thanks for all the emails and I promise I'll report on each topic that was sent to me. Seem like many people noticed the re-election moves by the mayor as well as the new round of excuses from City Hall regarding several issues that I'll address when things here are back to speed.

Can't forget about our "immigration" issue. There is PLENTY to talk about including the latest news regarding the Danbury 11 case and other tidbits that are going under the radar.

Ah, enough already, I don't have time to get into anything yet. I better get this computer backed up and put the final touches on the new site before my hard drive blows up again. I'll drop a local post here and there and add some crossposts from ConnecticutBLOG until I'm ready to hit the local scene again.

(Good news, my laptop is almost back to life! As I get things back to normal and all my files backed up, I'll continue to bring crossposts from ConnecticutBLOG. Hopefully, I'll be back on the local scene by Monday. Enjoy this post...this story is SO important to all freelance journalists and the reporting on this case by members of People-Powered Media will be remembered for years to come).

Friends and colleagues of freelance journalist/blogger Ken Krayeske showed their support for Connecticut's public enemy number one at a legal defense fundraiser held in his honor last Friday night.

As you know, Krayeske was arrested at Governor Rell's inaugural parade by the state police after his name was plastered on a "secret threat list", placed in jail, held on 75,000 bond, and was later released (after the governor's inaugural ball was over) on a promise to appear in court.

Krayeske's arrest has sparked outrage with columnists, talk radio hosts, journalists, bloggers, and politicians expressing their anger and disbelief over the entire affair.

Knowing that if something like this can happen to Krayeske, it could happen to anyone including bloggers (gulp), I decided to pack up my gear and make the trip to the fundraiser at La Paloma Sabanera Coffee House and Bookstore. I had to know more about the most dangerous man in Connecticut and who better to interview than the people who know him best.

Here's my video report (sorry about the small glitches, my computer was a bit sick).


UPDATE: MikeCT at MLN adds this tidbit of info:

Krayeske mentions that on January 30, the day he goes back to court, there will be a rally for free speech at 8 am on the north stairs of the State Supreme Court building. The building is at 231 Capitol Ave, across from the Capitol building (directions).

At this point, it might be better if the police department keeps their mouth shut.

I wanted to pull out one small part of the article, lest it slide into history without comment:

[Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts] said Hartford police decided on their own to set bail of $75,000 for Krayeske, which kept him locked up until a state bail commissioner ordered him released without bail.

Roberts said his officers set a high bail because Krayeske was "evasive" and "uncooperative" after his arrest. Krayeske, an anti-war demonstrator who once taught protesters how to behave if arrested, had asked for a lawyer and refused to answer questions.

First of all, this explanation of why the HPD set the bail so high is at odds with the explanation HPD spokesperson Nancy Mulroy gave me on January 9th:

Ms. Mulroy indicated that the original bail was set with an eye toward Mr. Krayeske's previous criminal record. But his criminal record contains only three arrests for non-violent civil disobedience - hardly the stuff that makes for high bail.

So, which is it? Was the bail set high because Mr. Krayeske had previous convictions for acts of non-violent civl disobedience or because he was "evasive" and "uncooperative"?

Someone should tell the police department to put the shovel down before the hole gets too deep.

Well, it seems like I'm buying a new harddrive for my laptop. In a way, it's a good thing...the current harddrive is only 60 gigs and it's pretty slow. Now I can drop the serious coin on a faster harddrive; hopefully that will speed things on the laptop up a bit.

These delays are driving me nuts! I want to launch the new site NOW but the latest template update was on the old drive so everything is on hold. I know, I know...BACKUP.

I'm trying my best to keep this site up to a respectable speed and I promise you that things will definitely pick up once everything is back to normal.

BTW: Thanks for the emails regarding the Ken Krayeske case. It's by far one of the strangest things that has ever happened to a freelanced journalist in Connecticut...the fact that the state is monitoring sites is simply insane (trust me, they're monitoring sites). George Orwell was only 23 years off. I'll keep everyone informed on any developments in the case and I'll have my interview with Krayeske posted as soon as I can get my laptop back to life.

Oh man, there is so much silliness happening in Danbury...you have no idea. I gotta get this site back up to speed pronto.

Here's Ken Krayeske's lawyer repsonse to Hartford Police Chief Daryl Robert's explanation behind his client's arrest.

Lie often and boldly and you just might be deemed to be telling the truth. Isn't that what Orwell taught? Daryl Roberts of the Hartford Police Department appears to have read his Orwell.

Roberts, the chief of the city's police department, testified yesterday before the Connecticut Legislature about the arrest of a client of mine, Ken Krayeske. Krayeske was arrested as he took pictures of the governor during her inaugural parade. One Press Account

Just why he was arrested has become a topic of much discussion in the state. Legislative hearings have taken place before we've even had our first pre-trial.

Three lay eyewitnesses have come forward to say that they saw the arrest. Mr. Krayeske stood taking photographs when he was taken into custody.

A police report by the arresting officer notes that Krayeske was targeted by the state police as a potential threat, as were, apparently, other people designated as activitists. Roberts testified that Krayeske was not targeted for that reason. Who to believe, the arresting officer or the bureaucrat playing spin doctor?

Eyewitnesses say Krayeske was doing no more than taking pictures. The chief testified that the man "breached the parade route." The spin doctor is out of control.

Eyewitnesses say Krayeske was taking photographs when he was arrested. The chief isn't sure whether the man had a camera.

The case is a frightening prism through which to consider civil liberties. One lawmaker at the hearing thought it unfortunate that law enforcement was questioned at all. Had the arrests occurred immediately after 9-11, the lawmaker mused, we'd be congratulating the officer. Perhaps that lawmaker would have. I count him a casualty to the war on terror.

I wish Chief Roberts had competent and admissible testimony to offer in the Krayeske case. Something tells me he'd be singing soprano shortly after his cross-examination began.

(Sorry for the off-topic posts but I'm still working on my laptop and it's driving me nuts. I'll get back to local topics VERY SOON as there is MUCH to talk about).

If only more politicians speak out against this insane, idiotic and stupid war.

Who's buying this load of bull.

Hartford police took full responsibility Tuesday for the arrest of political activist Ken Krayeske at Gov. M. Jodi Rell's inaugural parade, telling legislators that they were not influenced by a state police flier describing Krayeske as someone who might be disruptive.

Although it has to be hard for the chief of police to fall on the sword for the team, his testimony is laughable at best. I'll let the article tell the story.

Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts testified at a legislative hearing that Krayeske was arrested because he "breached the parade route," a claim disputed by Krayeske and witnesses, not because of a threat assessment by state police.

"He was not arrested based on the picture," Roberts said, referring to a two-page state police flier with Krayeske's photo that was distributed to Hartford and state police on the inaugural parade security detail.

Okay, let me get this straight. Krayeske's arrest had nothing to do with a TWO PAGE FLYER THAT HAS DISTRIBUTED TO HARTFORD AND STATE POLICE OFFICER which had a full description of Krayeske including photos of his current and past drivers license.

Is he serious?

Police initially described Krayeske as aggressively approaching the governor when arrested, but a Courant reporter accompanying Rell saw no such approach. And a witness said Krayeske was arrested after Rell had passed by him without incident as he shot photos from the curb.

Now, lets go back to Krayeske's website, take a look at the pictures he took at the parade (FYI: the metadata information including the time and date stamp are embedded in the images), and hear his side of the story.

If you're still questioning the timing of the arrest, check out the metadata embedded in the photos. My camera isn't set for Daylight Savings Time, so it reads an hour later. The CT Air National Guard was taken before the Rell picture. In about 30 seconds at the spot on the corner of Ford and Pearl, I snapped about 23 photos before my shoot was unceremoniously terminated.

Nuff said.

Lets continue and learn more about how dangerous Krayeske was on the day of his arrest.

Krayeske, who had suggested on a political website that demonstrators protest outside Rell's inaugural ball the evening of Jan. 3, was not released from custody until about 1 a.m. on Jan. 4, long after the ball had ended.

But Roberts said no one asked Hartford police to keep Krayeske in custody until after the ball. He said Hartford police decided on their own to set bail of $75,000 for Krayeske, which kept him locked up until a state bail commissioner ordered him released without bail.

Roberts said his officers set a high bail because Krayeske was "evasive" and "uncooperative" after his arrest. Krayeske, an anti-war demonstrator who once taught protesters how to behave if arrested, had asked for a lawyer and refused to answer questions.

He was dangerous because he did the right thing...refuse to answer any questions and request his attorney.

FYI: If you're wondering why this case is serious, take a look at this.

Legislators invited Boyle, Roberts and other law-enforcement officials to appear before the public safety committee and explain how Krayeske, who managed the gubernatorial campaign of Green Party candidate Cliff Thornton last year, came to be classified a security risk.

Boyle said state police did not consider Krayeske a possible threat until he posted this note on a website: "Whose going to protest the inaugural ball Jan. 3 with me? No need to make nice after watching this documentary."

The documentary referred to an examination of the troubled state juvenile training center.

Boyle said the Web posting prompted his officers to check Krayeske's record, finding that he once had been arrested and fined $50 for protesting at the launching of a nuclear submarine in Groton. On that basis, Krayeske's photo was shown to the parade security detail.

You're telling me that a well-known freelance journalist/blogger and campaign manager for Green Party candidate Cliff Thorton, was arrested based on a posting on a blog?

Is anyone buying this? Well, several Democrats aren't drinking the kool-aid that's being offered...

Rep. Jim Shapiro, D-Stamford, read Boyle a state law prohibiting intelligence gathering for political reasons and questioned the propriety of circulating a flier about Krayeske.

"I think a mistake was made here," Shapiro said. "It may have been an honest one, but I think a mistake was made."

I think Shapiro is being nice here. If you know anything about this case, then you know that the excuses explanation being offered by the police doesn't add up.

Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Chris Dodd joined in an online chat today over at the great site Firedoglake where he talked about a variety of subjects ranging from the war in Iraq, to why he's running for the top spot.

It's a very interesting conversation and worth the read (get well Jane!)

FYI: In honor of Dodd running for President, the world's most dangerous videoblogger, the one and only Scarce, whipped up this video clip:

The good guys at CTNewsJunkie are keeping an eye an the activities of Democratic State Rep. Jason Bartlett as he continues to campaign for Universal Health Care.

Seventeen freshmen legislators proposed using $125 million of the state's surplus and $125 million from next year's operating budget to start a trust account to fund universal health care proposals.

State Rep. Jason Bartlett, D-Bethel, said Monday, that it's evident questions about how the state will pay for a universal health care plan will be part of the debate.

"Let's set aside the money first," Bartlett said.

He said when Massachusetts passed its universal health care plan it took the state 24-months to implement because there was no start-up capital. If Connecticut starts investing now, there will be money to transition the state when it passes universal health care, Bartlett said.

Give the whole article a read.

I just finished watching the hearing on freelance journalist/blogger Ken Krayeske's arrest and my ears are still burning from anger.

I'm keeping my mouth shut unitl I can upload the video BUT someone is LYING and it isn't Ken or the witnesses who SAW HIM GET ARRESTED!

Silly me.

I guess I worked my Powerbook too hard and now a have a harddrive problem. Although it's not a real big deal since I have two other macs and three PCs (I don't mess around), it's annoying because I like to produce my video work on my laptop. In make a long rant short, I'm going to be spending my time fixing the harddrive and praying that I don't have to transfer files to a new harddrive (trust me, that would suck bigtime).

I know, I know, where's the newly designed site. For those who want to see a sneak peek at the site, click here. Now, what you see is a very bare bones version of the final product...I just didn't upload the update yet which will look quite different from what you see on the beta page (those posts on those pages are just random stuff). You'll notice a couple of cool new features including the audio feature (you're REALLY gonna like that), new google search, and a new video service I'm trying out (getting a little sick of YouTube). I'm really excited with the final layout and I'm sure you'll like it also.

This week will be a pretty busy week in terms of covering news in Danbury. Hopefully I can have this site at full speed very soon but first thing first...gotta get that harddrive fixed. I encourage you to check out my other site as that will be updated throughout the day. As soon as I get the harddrive back online and this dreaded template updated, this site will be back up to full speed...and better than ever.

Oh, I'm dying to get back into the mix. There is so much happening and I can't wait to set the record straight on a few political things which is happening under the radar.

Trust me, we noticed what's being swept under the rug and after the update is complete and I post the special comment, we're hitting Danbury full force with so much stuff that it's going to make your head spin.

You've been warned.

UPDATE: AGH!!!!!!!

It seems like things went from bad to worse. In geek terms, my Macintosh had a catalog -B crash. In simple terms, this means that although the contents of my harddrive is in tact, the computer can't read the files because it doesn't know where the files are located. Think of a catalog -b file as a map of your harddrive. Without the map, the computer doesn't know where the files are located. With desktops, this is an easy fix...just use the disk utility program to fix the tree but, with a laptop, this is a pain in the but because you need to use the startup disk to fix the hardddive (you can't fix this problem unless you unmount the startup disk.

In order for me to fix the problem, I need to remove the harddrive from the laptop which is not easy. With a desktop computer, it's a snap because you can just boot from the operating system disk OR boot from another harddrive BUT if you have a laptop that already has a CD in the drive that you can't remove (which is the case with my system), you need to remove the drive, install it into another Mac that has an empty harddrive bay, and rebuild the disk.

If you have a laptop, I don't need to tell you how much of a pain it is to remove a drive. You need precision screwdrivers to open the computer and about 2 hours to spare to get the job done right. Although I could continue blogging from my other system, I really need to get the laptop back online since it's easier to do my video work from my laptop because it's faster than my desktop.

I'll have to put everything on hold AGAIN until this is worked out. I'm hoping I can get everything worked out by tonight or tomorrow but AGAIN, removing a harddrive from a laptop is like changing a timing belt on a car...VERY painful.

I know people are dying for me to get back to full-speed as a number of you have been sending me tips and gripes about what's happening in Danbury right now. PLEASE keep the emails coming...although I'm still gathering information and conducting interviews, it might be a while until I can post my stuff.

I'm so sorry for the delay. I've been working for weeks on the new site and I really wanted to get things going again. Until I can get this problem solved, I don't want to waste time posting anything in great detail as that takes a great deal of my time and I need to focus on fixing this problem.

Hang in there, it won't be much longer.

...and yes, I still think a Mac is better than a PC. Try fixing a harddrive crash on a PC and you'll see what I mean :-)

(While I deal with placing the final touches on the newly redesigned blog, enjoy this crosspost from ConnecticutBLOG)

On January 13, members of Connecticut Opposes the War and as well as hundreds of anti-war supporters (and one Republican operative) filled the Legislative Office Building at the Capitol in Hartford.

Expressing their opposition towards President Bush's troop surge proposal, Democratic state political leaders as well as Congressmen Joe Courtney, Chris Murphy, John Larson made an appearance to reassure the audience that they received the message from November's mid-term election.

Although the video is somewhat dated, the message is too important not to share. Here's a video highlight of the event.

All I will say right now is don't believe the hype.

As I stated for months, you can leave that illegal immigration garbage for the xenophobes and freaks...DEVELOPMENT WILL BE THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE OF THIS ELECTION and the bullseye is squarely on Mayor Boughton. The recent actions of covering his bases and passing the buck by the mayor has not gone unnoticed by those who are paying attention (which is a ever-growing segment of the population here in Danbury). You see, as I travel across this city, it seems like people are waking up and are beginning to ask serious questions about Boughton's leadership and the Republican majority.

This isn't 2003 or 2005...TRUST ME, times have changed and the recent moves by the mayor shows that he's reading the same memo.

When the re-designed blog is launched, you'll see what I mean soon enough.

...ALMOST done developing and I can't wait!