Weird Connecticut This Week (Vol. 3)

Been too busy to post too much over the past week or so and it will be spotty for the next couple of weeks. Hey, it's summer - but just because I go on a slowdown doesn't mean that Connecticut will cease to be odd on my account.

Stories of occult activity in the dead of night are seldom reported on. So it was unusual to see on the news a story of a pig's head, found cooked, in a cemetery in Bethel. Complete with the veggies and a little wine.

Great places to live!

You already knew this, but Connecticut has lots of nice places to live. (Some expensive places, too!) So, few were very surprised to see a number of Connecticut towns hit Money magazine's list of the top 100 places to live in the USA.

Topping the list of Connecticut towns was Greenwich, at #12. (They must not have checked the gas prices!) Also on the Money list were Tolland (#29), Colchester (#57), New Milford (#67), and Guilford (#78). We also have three of the top five towns in highest median income (Darien, New Canaan, and Wilton). We'll take all these feathers in our cap, but please also pray for the many struggling communities in our State.

The allure of Scientology

Can't turn around without hearing about Scientology. This is one of several times I can recall across the decades when they have gotten a lot of buzz. This time it's because of Tom Cruise and other Hollywood devotees. Any pro-Scientology flare-up also draws out its many detractors, including this piece by Michael Crowley, an editor at the New Republic. Crowley brings out the details of founder L. Ron Hubbard's life, details which are usually glossed over by Scientologists or else completely unknown to them. These allegedly include black magic rituals designed to produce the Antichrist. (No, I'm not kidding.)

In any event, as you pray for the spread of the Gospel, please remember to pray about cultic groups, especially those which seem appealing when famous people promote them.

Rick Santorum on Courts on National Review Online

National Review has published a very important excerpt from Senator Rick Santorum's new book, It Takes A Family. Obviously the title is meant to stand in contradistinction to Senator Clinton's book, It Takes A Village.

Rick Santorum on Courts on National Review Online

Weird Connecticut This Week (Vol. 2)

This past week there were, as always, some unusual things happening in the Land of Steady Habits.

• One man allegedly mowed down some geese with his car. A police officer said, in words I could not have invented, "This here was a wanton act." No argument there.
  

• Hundreds of state workers in a office building on Sigourney Street in Hartford claim that mold is making them sick. Union officials are giving out protective gear. Video available if you follow that link. Big budget surpluses but mold everywhere...
  

• Health advocates and free speech advocates alike are happy that Dr. Mark Breiner, a dentist, will now be allowed by the State Department of Public Health to advise his patients about what he claims are the dangers of dental fillings which utilize mercury.
  

• And finally, as if we didn't have enough drugs, let it come as a sad revelation to you that it is popular in some circles to use animal tranquilizers to get high. A Pennsylvania man was arrested in our cute little state for allegedly possessing dozens of bags of ketamine, called "Special K" on the street.

Animal tranquilizers?

AAA Link fixed

Thanks to relolp who pointed out that the AA link was broken. It is a tricky link, if that makes sense. This I got from the AAA's site and it should work.

To read their press release about it, go here.

AAA Price Finder: a nice resource

With gas prices being what they are, we thought it might be helpful to make you aware of the AAA's fuel price finder. Let's pray for the continued health of the economy. I find it interesting that a number of prophetic voices have mentioned an upcoming discovery of additional resources or new resources that will reduce or even eliminate our dependence on imported energy. This is certainly something to pray for as well. But in the meantime, should God not bless us in this way, there is much we can do as good stewards. (End of sermon!)

Episcopalians React to Inhibition of Bristol Priest

Connecticut's Episcopal Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Andrew D. Smith, "inhibited" the Rev. Mark Hansen of St. John's Episcopal Church in Bristol over a dispute stemming from Bishop Smith's approval of the consecration of an openly homosexual man as a bishop. The inhibition has the effect of barring Rev. Hansen from performing the duties of a priest for six months. The Courant reports that locks have been changed and another priest, the Rev. Susan J. McCone, has been appointed to perform pastoral duties. Parishioners are also none-too-pleased and weighing their options.

Rep. Shays will face rematch from Diane Farrell

U. S. Rep. Christopher Shays will be facing a rematch from Westport First Selectwoman Diane Farrell. The Courant/AP has story here.

Just a reminder that it's never too early to pray for the upcoming 2006 elections. The news cycle being what it is, it always seems that we just finish an election and here it comes again. The demands of publicity, not to mention the financial demands of campaigns, compel candidates to get out there before we're really ready to go through it all again.

Intercessors for Connecticut, July 2005

The July edition of the Intercessors for Connecticut newsletter from Connecticut House of Prayer is now available at CHOP's InJesus site. There are several prayer points of note there, including Governor Rell's decision to OK stem cell research, and more on eminent domain.

More fallout from New London Supreme Court Case

Will Ridgefield now take some support from the recent Kelo v. New London case and take some land for development? That town is looking to put up 600,000 square feet of corporate office space. The developer-owner has been resisting Ridgefield's efforts in Federal court, but in light of the U. S. Supreme Court decision making it easier for towns to glomm your property, the battle may be over.

Meanwhile, New London officials received some death threats, proving that Americans still know how to overreact! Others came to New London itself from all over to protest and state legislators are buzzing about trying to avoid what a Florida legislator called a "Connecticut situation." Great! One more thing to be known for.

With that thought in mind, here's next year's license plate, just maybe. Don't sue me, the actual plate is onsale at EBay. (If you want, you can sue me for the bad photo edit!) On a more serious note, this is not what Thomas Jefferson envisioned. And, we are called the Constitution State for a reason. I'd prefer not to be known as the State that helped wreck it...

Weird Connecticut This Week

Maybe this will be a regular feature, maybe not, but there are oodles of weird news stories in our cute little State lately. Is there a full moon?

• A man was arrested in Litchfield for strolling around town naked - nine miles from home, no less! Although Blogger now has a new photo feature, I'm not using it yet. At least not in this post.

• And, it's Little League season again. That means, as always, beware of parents running amok.

• People are robbing banks because - 9/11 traumatized them!

You can't make this up.

Thoughts about the Kelo v. New London case...

The Kelo decision hit us like a meteor, and once again Connecticut finds itself on Page One. If you don't know, this decision of the U. S. Supreme Court allows governments to take private property for public purposes, not merely for public uses, as spelled out in the 5th Amendment to the Constitution. The City of New London condemned the homes of the plaintiff Susette Kelo and some of her neighbors (one of whom had lived in her home since 1918) for the purpose of private development such as offices and a marina which would, of course, beef up the tax rolls. It would also make a few bucks for the developer, most likely.

Justice Sandra O'Connor, no right-wing ideologue, said in her dissent that, "Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms. As for the victims, the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more. The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result. '[T]hat alone is a just government,” wrote James Madison, “which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his own.'” Eloquent.

Now everyone is in a scramble to prevent these takings, and we wish them success. In Connecticut, where the offense occurred, Republican senators are proposing to limit takings of residential properties . One man, with the suspiciously satirical-sounding name of Logan Darrow Clements, is taking a more pointed approach, writing to the Town of Weare, New Hampshire and offering to develop the property of Supreme Court Justice Souter.

It's only fair, after all.

Connecticut Now Has Worst Job Growth in Country

The FDIC is reporting that Connecticut has the worst job growth in the country. We've lost more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs in the past 15 years and, of course, still face the prospect of losing as many as 15,000 with the threatened closure of the sub base.

In the grim language of the report, "Through first quarter 2005, manufacturing employment rose slightly, construction employment was steady, and service employment was narrowly mixed. This lack of growth during a national economic upswing is a concern as employment now is only slightly higher than at the beginning of the 1990s. No other state in the country has had such stagnation in employment."

This is another superlative we could have done without. Our pockets of high income and stratospheric home prices are masking the struggles of many. Let's pray that God will be merciful to us.

Tribe soldiers on...

An interesting and comprehensive article about the plight of the Schaghticokes and their chief, Richard Velky, in today's Courant. It does not give one a warm fuzzy about our State officials. If our own state statutes recognize the legitimacy of this tribe, why are we contesting their legitmacy before the federal government?

This is part two in a four-part series on key players in this drama.

State Capitol Prayerwalkers Meeing

There will be a State Capitol Prayerwalkers Meeting on Thursday, June 2, 2005 at 7:00pm at Shiloh Christian Church, 870 Prospect Avenue, Hartford, CT.

Do you want to do something that will make a difference in our state government? Do you want to do something that will actively influence government policy in a Christlike way? If you’re interested, the CT House of Prayer-Hartford sends teams of Christians into the State Capitol Building to pray for the legislators every day, Monday through Friday while legislature is in session. If you’re interested in finding out more about this, come to this meeting.

The Legislature is in session only half a year, usually from January through June. It will require a commitment of only 1-2 hours one day every other week Monday through Friday sometime between the hours of 8:00-5:00pm.

Last winter there were 10 teams of prayerwalkers prayerwalking the State Capitol Building. They will be there to share their experiences with us. Come and find out more about this exciting prayer ministry!

DIRECTIONS:
From the east: Take the Sisson Avenue exit off Interstate 84, Hartford. Go straight onto Prospect Avenue. Take a right and Shiloh Christian Church is approximately 1-2 miles on the right, just before Elizabeth Park.
From the west: Take the Prospect Avenue exit. Take a left onto Prospect Avenue and Shiloh Christian Church is approximately 2-3 miles on your right.

For more information, call: Audrey Church McIntyre, CT House of Prayer, Inc. - Hartford, P.O. Box 4042, Hartford CT 06147-4042, (860) 716-0247.

Jesusfest Returns this July

JESUSFEST is a local one-day Christian festival / "country fair" that Drew Crandall from Keep in Touch has facilitated. Every year this festival has doubled in size - last year there were some 7,000 to 8,000 people in attendance! It is held at the Tolland Agricultural Grounds in Vernon. This year the festival will be held Saturday, July 9 from 10am-9pm.

The objective of this festival is to reach out to the lost in our community and promote unity among the churches crossing denominational lines by reaching out to the community together - showing that Christians can have fun! Approximately 10 churches from a wide variety of fellowships & denominations are involved in putting this festival together. The festival is free to the public.

This year there will be two 2 prayer tents set up: one will be an intercessory tent where there will be 14 hours of straight worship and intercession for the State of Connecticut; the second will be a place where people at the festival can come to receive prayer. Audrey McIntyre, the prayer coordinator for the event, is seeking prayer leaders and ministers who have active prayer groups to come with their groups and pray for 2 hours on-site at the festival. Would you like to come to the festival with your fellow intercessors and spend at least 2 hours in worship and intercession for the State of Connecticut? If so, contact Audrey via e-mail.

For more information, check www.jesusfest.org. (Site may still be under construction.)

MSNBC Interview with Rep. Rob Simmons on base closure

Congressman Simmons can be seen here getting as agitated as a polite Connecticut congressman can possibly get in response to the news about the sub base.

You may need to endure a 30-second NBC commercial for Pampers or something.

First Execution in New England in 45 Years

Another big story: Michael Ross was finally executed... the Courant has a comprehensive piece here.

Federal Agency Overturns Recognition of Two Tribes

Another big story: the Interior Board of Indian Appeals has overturned the federal recognition of the Schagticoke Tribe, which is based in Kent, as well as the Eastern Pequot tribe which is located in southeastern Connecticut.

Published reports indicate that the matters will go back to the Bureau of Indian Affairs for reconsideration.

This is a major victory for those fighting the spread of casinos in Connecticut. It was widely feared that the Schagticoke Tribe would seek to operate a casino in the Danbury area.