Notable Stories of 2014 that continue to resonate into 2015

1. DRONES ARE HERE TO STAY. They are being used more and more for military purposes such as pinpointing enemy targets with small missiles. In Yemen and Pakistan they have taken out purported terrorists. They are allowed for recreational purposes in the US so long as they fly below 400 feet. They are not allowed for commerce; this leaves out Amazon's grand plan to use them for delivering packages to out of the way places.
  Obama just updated our position on drone strikes with these comments made during his current trip to India. He said that our policy of drone strikes combined with governmental information sharing isn't a perfect situation, but is the best approach in a bad situation. "The alternative would be us to play whack-amole every time there is terrorist action inside of any given country."
   DRONEGATE is now emerging with a two foot drone landing on the White House Lawn while the President and Michelle were in Saudi Arabia.

2. CHILDREN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST MALALA YOUSFAZI wins the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.  While defying a Taliban order forbidding female children's education (that is both teachers and students are banned), the then 14 year old has endured a serious shooting incident to her head as she was returning home from school. For more on this story see last years blog about her on Thirteen Top News Stories for 2013.

200 Nigerian girls are still missing 8 months later.

Associated Press

3. A COMPANION STORY TO THAT OF MALALA'S ACHIEVEMENT IS ONE PENNED BY CONNECTICUT WRITER SANDRA EAGLE: EDUCATION IS GREATEST THREAT TO TERRORISTS. This story is a must read. The Taliban has banked on depriving female children from getting an education and thus render them unable to "provide for their children." "In 2001, there were only 900.000 children in school in Afghanistan, and very few were girls. Today, more than 10.5 million children are in school in Afghanistan and 42% are girls." The goal of the GPE, the Global Partnership for Education, an international group of donors, is to get 29 million children into schools--in Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as Afghanistan. Let these efforts be an initial antidote to the abduction and suffering of the 200 Nigerian girls captured and still held by the Boko Haram.

4. THE STAMFORD ADVOCATE TURNED 185 ON APRIL 8TH (ONCE CALLED THE STAMFORD INTELLIGENCER IN 1829). It closed down after a few months for lack of funds. It reopened as the Sentinel and has been publishing continuously since it first appeared on February 16, 1830.

5. THE HARTFORD COURANT TURNED 250 ON OCTOBER 29TH. IT IS THE OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY PUBLISHING NEWSPAPER IN THE UNITED STATES. On Oct. 29, 1764, Thomas Green, a printer, started a newspaper he named the Connecticut Courant; he published weekly and in 1837 the newspaper came out daily.

6. CONNECTICUT IS TO BE RECEIVING $12.5 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDS TO FURTHER ITS PLAN TO PROVIDE UNIVERSAL PRE-SCHOOL. This great news follows my blog earlier this year that the Connecticut General Assembly established the Office of Early Childhood. This news represents a great start in jump starting early education, especially for children in low-income communities. By the way, in New York City, Pre-K applications this year are up 36%.

To be continued.... Go to Notable Biographies published in 2014:  http://tinyurl.com/nd6wuth

A Tale of Two States- A Tale of Huge Deficits: A Tale of Two Governors: California Versus Connecticut. Part II, Governor Malloy and the Unions

This is Part II (for Part I, click here).

We already know that Jerry Brown has it 'on the agenda' to extract concessions from California Unions--a reduction in Union pensions in order to close the gap on a $26.6 Billion shortfall in revenues.

Malloy, here in Connecticut announced on May 13 that he had negotiated a $1.6 Billion dollar deal with the Unions in order to avert a threatened layoff of 5,000 state workers. The Governor originally sought $2 Billion in concessions.

Several points need bearing in mind.

First, there is no real deal until 14 of 15 state unions ratify it and there are 34 bargaining units in toto. In addition 80% of the Union members must vote for it. Then the final deal must still be approved by the state legislature. Thus, there are still major hurdles to overcome.

Malloy agreed not to lay off any of the 45,000 unionized workers for four years.

The deal included no furloughs (mandatory temporary layoffs with no pay) and no reductions in hours for permanent workers; a two-year freeze in salary was included and then here would be a 3% increase in salary for each of the next 3 years. For employees retiring after 2017, there would be a 3 year rise in the retirement age. Undisclosed pension and health benefits would be scaled back.

Should not enough union members ratify the proposed deal, the two year budget would collapse!

The republican minority opposition in the Connecticut legislature has pointed out the government spending is staying at the same level (with no cuts); this is concommitant with a massive increase in state taxes--the largest in its history.

According to the New York Times, "the new budget depends in large part on almost $1.5 billion in increased taxes on personal income, corporations and an array of purchases and services, from yachts to inexpensive clothing, to plug a deficit once estimated between $3.2 billion and $3.5 billion."

The state still must find an additional $400 million in revenue to balance the budget. It is unclear what the source of these unaccounted funds will be though the Governor made a surprise announcement on Friday, May 27th on the eve of the Memorial Day weekend.

Finally, it could take over a month for the unions to ratify the deal.

At this point Jerry Brown has a longer way to go to balance his California's skewered budget--he has yet to cut a deal with the state unions! ; on the other hand, Malloy has initiated a process that has many steps to climb before his two year budget will be cemented in place!

The blogger wishes to acknowledge the Stamford Advocate, The Hartford Courant and the New York Times for their input in composing this blog.

Ten top POSITIVE news stories you might have missed these last few weeks

With the world's attention focused on the major ongoing stories of the Crimea special vote to rejoin Russia and the mysterious disappearance of the Malaysian Flight 370,  you might have missed some of these other POSITIVE stories in the news.

1. CVS STORES WITH OVER 7,600 CVS/CAREMARK OUTLETS WILL STOP SELLING CIGARETTES AND OTHER TOBACCO PRODUCTS IN ALL ITS STORES AS OF OCTOBER 1, 2014. It is estimated that CVS will lose close to $2 billion in annual sales. This must have been a difficult decision; however, with over 800 Minute-Clinics in these store and its great majority of business coming from promoting health wellness and clean living, this was the right decision.
     Perhaps, the Rhode Island based company can do more in the way of promoting online as well as live seminars on prevention and other  health related issues such as the importance of colon cancer screening that I will cover shortly. So, stay tuned!

2. HATS OFF TO DANIEL P. MALLOY  of Connecticut for PROPOSING THE SALE OF E-CIGS TO MINORS BE BANNED.  This device involves heating  a flavored nicotine liquid to produce a vapor that is like smoke.Though touted as a means of beating the  nicotine habit, these devices make smoking more attractive to the underage because mainly because  celebrities are seen with the devices.

3. COLON CANCER IN OUR COUNTRY IS DOWN 30% IN THE LAST DECADE.  This is despite that only 50% of those who should be screened are in fact going for the test. So wake up America and those adults who are 50 years of age and up, go visit your local primary care doctor.

Mae Keane

Hartford Courant 

 4. CLICK  HERE TO READ A STORY CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF A CONNECTICUT LADY WHO BEAT RADIATION POISONING, THEN CONQUERED COLON CANCER AND FINALLY BREAST CANCER. BY THE WAY, SHE JUST PASSED ON AT AGE 107!

5. KUDOS TO THE CITY OF STAMFORD AND MAYOR MARTIN FOR "POT HOLE WEEK"  whereby the public is invited to contact the city to report potholes that needed filling. Streets such as Upland Avenue in Belltown have been repaved to cover the numerous and dangerous pot holes.

6. A TINY PUBLISHER IS BRINGING NEWSWEEK BACK INTO PRINT. Click here for the story.

7. FORBES MAGAZINE, ONCE THE VERY SYMBOL OF AMERICAN CAPITALISM (CAPITALIST TOOL) AND LAVISH CORPORATE CONSUMPTION IS ON  THE BUYER'S BLOCK. Click here to read.   Malcolm Forbes rode motorcycles and entertained the capitalist elite on his yacht as he courted Elizabeth Taylor. Son Steve spent $140 million on two failed presidential bids. Malcolm had a fabulous collection of military art depicting in miniature famous world battles, which he opened for public viewing at his company building on Fifth Ave. just south of 14th Street.


8. AMERICA FACES UP TO ITS FAILING EDUCATION SYSTEM AS THE DEBATE HEATS UP BETWEEN FUNDING FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS (favored by Governor Cuomo of New York) AND FUNDING FOR PRE-K EDUCATION (favored by New York City's Mayor di Blasio).

9. A BRONX CHARTER SCHOOL PRESENTS ITS CASE TO OPEN AN ELEMENTARY BRANCH HERE IN STAMFORD CAUSING CONTROVERSY.To access the many articles recently published in the Stamford Advocate, click here. 

10. METRO NORTH FINALLY FACES UP TO ITS FAILED INFRASTRUCTURE. IS HOPE ON ITS WAY?  Click here for story..

Stories you might have missed

Posters on entrance doors to our local CVS

urging quitting smoking

1.  CVS has dropped the sale of cigarettes from all their stores and began to promote in store health promotions such as flu tests, etc  The sale of cigarettes generated tens of Millions of dollars in sales.
Hats off to the CVS stores.

2. Connecticut backs Pre-Kindergarten schooling. On  May 5, 2014,  Governor Malloy  praised the Connecticut General Assembly on their passage of final legislation to establish the Office of Early Childhood. This is a major step in moving our state towards universal access to pre-kindergarten.

Carl Bennett

from the stamfordhospitalfoundation.org

3. The Carl and Dorothy Bennett Foundation donated $9.1 million to Stamford Hospital making them the largest donors for a total of more than $20 million  They  created the Carl & Dorothy Bennett Cancer Center.

4. The Hartford Courant celebrates its 250th Anniversary this year and is recognized as the oldest continuously publishing newspaper in the United States. It is also the largest daily newspaper in the State of Connecticut.

5. Kudos to the Stamford Advocate which has just turned 185.  The paper began as the Stamford Intelligencer in 1829 and closed down after a few months for lack of funds. It reopened as the Sentinel and has been publishing continuously since it first appeared on February 16, 1830.