Real Hartford

If prayer is your health care…

you might be interested to know that there will be a rally for health care at Aetna (Farmington Ave) on Thursday February 7th at 3pm. I just received a call from the Working Families Party letting me know about this. The rally should last about an hour. I’ll be at work, unable to go to this, but would appreciate it if someone could go in my place.

The HPD Gets With It

For people who like to bypass the news media entirely to get an idea of what’s going on, the Hartford Police Department website has been a source of frustration in past years because of their inconsistently updated announcements. The arrest blotter was nowhere to be found, and their press releases would be posted every few weeks, maybe. Well, now it seems they’ve gotten their act together because the arrest log is on their site (again?) and is, so far, updated every day. I think people should be informed of how many arrests occur in every town and city, so that the news reporting does not skew our sense of reality. As expected, many of the arrests are drug-related.

Of the arrests from yesterday, I think my favorite were panhandling and drinking in public. Is drinking alcohol in public really still a crime? Bad judgment, maybe, but criminal?

Dear Random Men Near Barnard Park,

I have come to terms with the street harassment. Sort of. Here are the rules, now, just so you know.

If I’m walking by you, like I was today, and look exhausted, sweaty, and out of breath, then a “hello sexy” like I got would be okay. But, you must be at least 6 feet away from me if you say this, not make eye contact, and not follow me.

However, if you make disgusting grunting noises at me as I pass, as happened last summer, I will not be so tolerant. Don’t tell me to smile. Don’t ask me for money. Don’t stare.

Thanks for your cooperation. I don’t want to have to take the bus for a short 1.7 mile jaunt, and driving is less and less practical.

Anti-War Resolution

For more information on the anti-war resolution going before Hartford City Council on Monday, check out Dave Ionno’s write-up at Undercurrents. You can also read the resolution draft there.

Hartford and the War Zone

Item #9 on the City Council agenda for Monday January 28th:

HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE, with accompanying resolution de

Recognition of Human and Fiscal costs to the City regarding the Wars in Iraq and

Afghanistan and provision of information for Council and the Public.

While everyone is cracking down on corrupt politicians, why not go after some of the worse offenders? Allocating funds for an unethical war deprives Americans. If it takes an appeal to economic concerns to stop this violent nonsense, so be it.

Bells and Whistles of Government

I have this thing about what I call “spinning Jesus” websites. If you recall, there was an episode of The Simpsons in which Homer learns how to use the internet. He makes a website that has all kinds of rotating graphics circa 1994. It seems to be what children 10 and under might view as cool.

When I see a website that is supposed to be professional but includes anything scrolling on the page, I cringe. It seems to be way behind the times, nevermind tacky and in violation of every idea about graphic design. I’m not going to name every offender, but the City of Hartford Government site is one. They revamped their website recently; however, they still can’t shake that scrolling marquis or the vertical scrolling calendar. Seriously, these two things make the site appear as if a young child or someone whose computer knowledge ceased around 1995 designed it. This is America, where everyone is increasingly impatient and not going to wait for a slowly scrolling calendar. It’d be better to have an actual interactive calendar one can click on to find out what is happening on a given date.

One more thing– instead of having the rotating ad pictures of the mayor as the center of the page, why not make those pictures way at the bottom of the page, the ones of things in Hartford that are not politicians, featured photographs.

Easier Access to Amsterdam

I regret that I’m a few days behind on this one, but Mayor Perez released his goals for improving transportation in a commentary piece that ran in the Courant last week (1/13/08). The highlight of the essay:

We need to link commuter rail, Amtrak and access to Bradley International Airport. People should be
able to take the train from Union Station in Hartford to the airport.

For that matter, they should be able to take the train from New Haven or Springfield to get to Bradley.
Thinking bigger still: People who use Bradley to fly to and from Amsterdam should be able to simply
hop on a high-speed train going to Boston or New York, avoiding the traffic congestion of those larger
airports.

This caught my attention because I’m thinking about taking a trip to Amsterdam in the summer, and have been thinking about the logistics of getting to and from the airport. It’s much simpler to be dropped off at Union Place–a five minute drive from my place–than to be dropped off at Bradley, or have to pay to leave my car at the airport.

In a time when gas prices are rising and we’re seeing the results of reckless transportation, it makes sense to work harder to improve public transportation. The New Britain-Hartford rapid transit busway isn’t scheduled to start operation until 2012. That seems like a really long time to accomplish this. Hopefully, Perez will begin to be more specific as to how this other transportation will be improved, including a realistic time table.