Filed under: Youth
Via Pew’s “How Millennial Are You?” Quiz.
Filed under: Life
Via Rosemary Beaupre, Casey’s mom as Casey heads back to CCMC for three weeks of chemo before her BMT in Boston:
I could go on and on with thanks (and I hope you all know who you are) but I have to especially thank the cancer moms. Annette, Christine, Jill and Lynda are mothers like I am. They too, have kids with cancer. Connecting with them and knowing they are there is deeply comforting. When we were in Rome visiting Liz we visited the Vatican and saw the pieta. I had seen it before, before I was a mother, but this time it was different. It moved me to tears. For me, it is the most beautiful symbol of all mothers, everywhere and for all time, caring for an injured child. For me, she is a combination of limitless motherly love and peaceful acceptance. That image in my mind reminds me that I am not alone, that all of us, together, are a part of something so much bigger and it makes me feel better. So thank you.
with love and gratitude, Rosemary
Moms can really do amazing things, don’t you think? It’s hard to believe that this coming November will be 5 years for us. Most days it seems so far away, like a completely alternate world. It’s those days where you can get wrapped up in the little things and become self-centered. It’s also those days when things seem to be going so well that there is no need to dwell on all of the sadness. Then there are moments where you can be snapped back to reality – a reality that you lived through it and learned from the experience, growing in love and compassion or a reality that shakes you out of your new perfect world and cements the fact that you never know what’s to come.
Moms seriously are amazing. Cancer moms; however, bring caring and compassion to a whole new level. My mom always knew so much about leukemia, other cancers, drugs, diagnoses, treatment plans, support systems. My mom also always knew how to be there for all of us and how to hold our family together. While looking back, I remember times when I was lonely and jealous, looking for the support of my mom even though I knew she could not give it to me because she was at the hospital with Aaron, I also remember the times when she would just hug us for no reason, smile (it was always a good thing when she smiled!), and tell us that everything was going to be okay. Moms are very reassuring figures, and mine has certainly seen my family through an extremely difficult time.
To Rosemary and Casey – a mother-daughter bond unlike any I have pretty much ever seen – good luck today at CCMC and remember – the moms can great for moral support and company, but they’re also really good at making Friendly’s runs for extra ice cream or phone calls for Pizza Plus!
Andrew covers recent polls that show Millennials moving away from the Republican party:
Drum chimes in:
[The GOP's] earlier embrace of social fundamentalism was largely responsible for driving away young voters in the first place, and now, left only with a core of middle-aged and elderly voters that they need to keep loyal, they’re likely to pursue policies that push the young even further away. This might produce occasional victories, but no political party can survive this kind of vicious cycle in the long run. Having long since alienated blacks, Hispanics, and virtually the entire Northeast, Republicans can hardly afford to permanently lose young voters as well. The white South and the elderly just aren’t enough to sustain a national party.
Filed under: Life
Because who doesn’t love Maya Angelou:
My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.
H/T @CoryBooker
Filed under: Life
Via Kindness Girl:
If there is any part of you holding some shred of doubt,
you should know…you are the one.
you are the one who can do the thing, whatever it is…
whispering or screaming loudly in your heart,
you have everything it takes,
and all you need,
you can trust yourself.
you can believe without any shame or fear…
you can say it out loud and show all it holds because…
you are the one.
(and it’s going to be great)
Filed under: Republicans
I understand why they call themselves “Conservatives” but can the GOP take a page out of the Tories playbook and at least accept that society, socially acceptable preferences and ideas, and people are changing?
This is disgraceful. But as the lady says at the end, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. This is just one opinion that I certainly do not agree with.
Filed under: Elections
From CT Mirror:
Months after the state’s public campaign finance system was struck down by the U.S. district court, the legislature’s election committee shed some light on what their fix will include.
Rep. James F. Spallone, co-chairman of the Government Administration and Elections committee, said Monday the bill to be introduced when the legislature convenes Wednesday will likely include scaling back the amount of public money candidates receive to run their campaigns and an easier route to participation by minor-party candidates.
“The bill will reflect ideas brought forth in conjunction with the court’s decision,” the Essex Democrat said about the court’s decision that minor-party candidates have too high a burden to qualify for public financing. “… The silver lining is that we already developed a proposal last year.”
Spallone said the exact details of the bill will likely mirror last year’s proposed changes to the law with a few adjustments to the state’s Citizens’ Election Program. That bill was passed by the Government Administration and Elections Committee but the House and Senate never voted on the bill.
That bill proposed eliminating the difference in grants for major party legislative candidates, among other changes.
A public hearing on the proposed bill is set for Feb. 10.
Senate Democrats Spokesman Derek Slap said too many people in leadership positions – including President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams, Jr.; Speaker of the House Christopher G. Donovan andGov. M. Jodi Rell – support the campaign finance system to not fix it.
“That says a lot about the support for it and making sure it doesn’t fall apart,” he said, predicting Senate Democrats will consider the committee’s recommendations “very soon. Probably in the next few weeks, if not sooner.”
The state is appealing U.S. District Court Judge Stefan R. Underhill’s ruling to the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, and Spallone said it’s critical the state has a plan because ”when the court rules the clock starts ticking on the law. So, it’s really important to be ready to act fast.”
If the state’s appeal is rejected, the legislature has seven days to fix the violations. If the legislature does not act fast enough, the whole campaign finance system would be thrown out, forcing candidates who have been counting on public financing to scramble for contributions.
About 75 percent of legislative candidates used public financing in 2008. This is the first year the money would have been available in statewide races.
Whether the legislature will move forward with changing the law before the appeal court renders its decision is still anyone’s guess, Spallone said.
“Do we pass a bill so that we try to moot the appeal and just change the law? … Do we have a new law that would replace the existing law? Or, do we have the bill in our back pocket waiting for the ruling? That’s a decision we will have to make as we go forward,” Spallone said.
Spallone and Rell favor reducing the amount of public money candidates receive for their campaigns, although Spallone would not say what the proposed new levels are before the bill is introduced.
“The key is to make it so it’s fiscally responsible but not in a way that would deter candidates. We will try and reflect what people need to run a good campaign not necessarily what they want or think they want to run a good campaign. We will make it attractive to candidates and I think those numbers can be lower,” he said.
Rell announced today how much she would like to see public funding scaled back for campaigns. Candidates for governor she would like to see receive $2.5 million versus the current $3 million for the general election, state senate would decline from $85,000 to $70,000, statewide offices from $750,000 to $400,000 and state representative $20,000 versus the current $25,000.
This change “will encourage citizen participation in the political process while limiting the role of private money in elections,” Rell said.
Sen. Michael A. McLachlan, R-Danbury, the ranking member of the elections committee, said he supports reduction of grants for candidates.
“Hopefully this bill will consider a reduction of grants in light of the state’s fiscal issues,” he said. “I am somewhat disappointed we didn’t deal with this last year.”
Spallone said he is not sure if the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision last week upending campaign finance laws and permitting unlimited corporate spending on political speech will affect his provisions to the state’s campaign finance laws.Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said in January the Supreme Court’s decision has no affect on current Citizens’ Election Program laws.
Spallone said he is confident the legislature will move on the proposal because so many candidates are dependant on the outcome.
“We have people trying to run campaigns and they have to have confidence that they can rely on this innovative system going forward,” he said.
