John Wood, Hartford resident and Vietnam vet, knows firsthand about war and about working for peace. He knows, too, what the war in Iraq is costing his city in terms of healthcare, housing and education:  over $147 million.

On March 3, Wood and other members of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship will host a day-long program in the Cathedral House of Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford to draw attention to the human and social problems resulting from the cost of the Iraq war and America’s current foreign policy.  Participants will discuss the complexities of the war itself and how it affects local communities in terms of lost resources. 

Dr. Robert Evans, executive director of Plowshares Institute, based in Simsbury, will be the featured speaker. 

The forum will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  The registration fee of $15 at the door will include continental breakfast and a box lunch.  For more information, call Christ Church Cathedral at 860-527-7231 or e-mail to cathedralepf@aol.com

Connecticut’s own Aldon Hynes received tickets to game six of the Libby Trial in Washington DC where he was allowed to blog the final days of the trial from the courtroom. Blogging in the courtroom? Yep. Click here to read about the beginning of his journey and here to read about the end. In between he blogged live and wrote about 23 posts. To read his coverage of the trial visit his web site http://www.orient-lodge.com

An increasing number of veterans are returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan with disabilities. Under federal law they are entitled to benefits, but obtaining those benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs has become increasingly difficult.

The Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association thinks that’s not fair, so in order to level the playing field, they will assist disabled veterans in filing the complicated forms and paperwork necessary to succeed in the appellate court.

Continue reading "Lawyers Donate Time to Disabled Veterans" »

The American public has found its voice, Congressman John B. Larson, D-1st, declared Sunday at a Manchester Community College “Town Hall” meeting.

He said Congress is beginning to find its voice too. More than 300 members of Congress spoke on the floor of the House to debate a resolution against President George W. Bush’s planned troop build-up in Iraq and 246 voted Friday in favor of the resolution to oppose the escalation.

Continue reading "Frustration and Optimism Expressed on Iraq War" »

Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) and Congressman Christopher Murphy (CT-05) deliver speeches that opposed the escalation troops in the Iraq war.  The final vote on the measure is anticipated Friday.Congressman Joe Courtney delivered the following statement during his five minute address (as prepared for delivery):Click here to watch him deliver it. “Mr. Speaker, we stand here today one hundred days after an historic watershed election in this country in which the American people spoke loudly and clearly that they wanted a new Congress to rise to its constitutional duty and hold this administration accountable for its war policy in Iraq. The day I was sworn in as a new member of Congress, I accepted this responsibility and I rise today in opposition to the President’s escalation of the war.”

Continue reading "CT’s Freshman Congressmen on the War" »

Christine Stuart photo
A group of protesters huddle outside U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman’s Hartford office Thursday in the bitter cold to tell him they didn’t appreciate his obstruction of a vote on a resolution to express the Senate’s opposition to the troop escalation in Iraq. The letter from members of Americans Against Escalation in Iraq, Moveon.org, Truemajority.org, Votevet.org, and Connecticut Citizens Action Group said, “We know that you do not agree with our position, but you need to know that an overwhelming majority of Connecticut residents and Americans from all over want this misguided war over now.” Protestors who attempted to deliver the letter at around 4:45 p.m. were told Lieberman’s office closed at 4 p.m., but two staffers came out 15-minutes later to accept the letter on Lieberman’s behalf. They said he was in Washington but promised to deliver their message to the Senator.

Continue reading "Protestors Send Message on War to Lieberman" »

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When they weren’t thumbing through Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s budget proposal Wednesday legislators like state Rep. John Geragosian, D-New Britain, were collecting signatures in opposition to President George W. Bush’s planned troop escalation.

Continue reading "CT Legislators Protest Troop Surge" »

The West Hartford Citizens for Peace and Justice will show the documentary film “Why We Fight” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6. The 2005 film by Eugene Jarecki documents the rise and maintenance of the purported United States military-industrial complex. It alleges that every decade since World War II, the American public has been told a lie to bring it into war to fuel the military-economic machine, which in turn maintains American dominance in the world. It includes interviews with John McCain, Chalmers Johnson, Richard Perle, William Kristol, Gore Vidal and Joseph Cirincione. The film will be shown at St. James Episcopal Church, 1018 Farmington Ave., West Hartford. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the film will begin at 7 p.m. followed by discussion. Admission is free and open to the public.

Read Hartford resident Steve Fournier’s first person account of the anti-war rally in Washington DC this past weekend at http://www.currentinvective.com/ or at the Hartford Independent Media Center’s web blog, Undercurrents.

Christine Stuart photo
More than 50 peace activists braved the freezing rain at the West Hartford Veterans Memorial Monday to mark the death of the 3,000th U.S. soldier.“It’s a sad thing to have to do on New Years day,” Kathy Hucks, a member of West Hartford Citizens for Peace and Justice said. But, “perhaps it is the only way to begin 2007, by refusing to forget and reminding those who would like to forget,” she said.Flo Woodiel, another member of West Hartford Citizens for Peace and Justice, said when it comes to the war in Iraq, “it’s time to hold our legislator’s feet to the fire.”

Continue reading "Candlelight Vigil to Bring Home the Troops" »