(September 19, 2008)— Mayor Eddie A. Perez is looking forward to Hartford building
economic development bridges with Jerusalem to help create jobs, increase trade, and
improve the quality of life in Connecticut’s Capital City through high paying
employment.

“Hartford has a world-class medical community and we could strengthen hospital related
jobs and businesses by building relationships with companies in Jerusalem that
manufacture medical devices. I look forward to our business leaders building
partnerships that could bring new firms to Hartford and help us grow and take a leading
role in this global economy,” says Mayor Perez.

The Mayor has just returned from the 26th Jerusalem Conference of Mayors, hosted by
Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski. The U.S. Conference of Mayors participated in this
trip through the Council for World Jewry and the American Jewish Congress.

Mayor Perez adds, “This trip was a unique opportunity to learn and adopt best practices
from other cities from around the world. Economic development, green technology, and
healthcare are issues that impact all of us. This conference provided a fresh look at how
we can all work together to use technology to improve the quality of life in urban areas.”

In addition to Hartford, the United States delegation included mayors from Albuquerque,
New Mexico, Augusta, Maine, Lansing, Michigan, Nashville, Tennessee, and Tucson,
Arizona. Mayors from about 40 cities in South America, the Caribbean, Europe, and
Africa also participated in this global conference.

This event concluded just before International Peace Day, which is Sunday, September
21st. The day was established in 1982 by a United Nations resolution so that the entire
world can engage in realistic acts of peace. Mayors from around the world meeting to
improve quality of life issues through economic development and green technology
demonstrates proactive measures that are taking place today to make way for a better
tomorrow.

Is it weird that Hartford would seek advice from a nation that continues to have ongoing violent conflict? Or do we get to ignore the Palestine/Israel thing now?

I’m aware that many nations/countries have wars and conflicts, but wouldn’t it have made more sense to turn to Japan on this one?

The University will present a talk by highly acclaimed author Azar Nafisi on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 7:30 p.m. in Lincoln Theater.

Nafisi’s talk, which is part of the University’s Rogow Distinguished Visiting Lecturers Program, is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. To order tickets, call the University of Hartford box office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587.

Nafisi’s talk was originally slated to take place last March, but was rescheduled due to illness. (Tickets for the March date will not be accepted.)

Nafisi is best known for her national bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, which presents an electrifying and often harrowing portrait of the Islamic revolution. Part memoir and part literary criticism, Reading Lolita in Tehran (Random House, 2003) is a poignant account of one Iranian professor’s efforts to introduce Western literature to her female students—a practice forbidden by religious fundamentalists in Iran.

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My summer has been highlighted by day trips here and there, because of work and money, and also because I take my “actual vacation” to Provincetown in October every year. In June, I went to Boston with a friend to celebrate my birthday (which I’d been dreading for months previously) at Fenway. It’s now an official tradition . Whenever I go to a Red Sox game for my birthday, they lose, miserably. It was a shut-out and my favorite player—Mike Lowell—had two errors in the game. That should tell you how bad it was. We stayed at a family member’s house just outside the city. The next day we meant to explore Boston, but it was (or felt like) the hottest day of the year, and in the interest of not dying from heat exhaustion, we ended our wanderings early. Thankfully, there was a train that we could jump on from Coolidge Corner, rather than walk all the way back to the South Station. Imagine that—reliable, inexpensive, and non-confusing transportation! If you have not seen it, this train runs down the middle of the road. Before succumbing to the heat (we were sweating while sitting still, in the shade!), we went into a Russian bookstore. I assumed it would be some books in Russian and the rest just about Russia. I was so wrong! There was nothing there that I could read, and everyone in the shop was speaking Russian. I was thrilled, but was secretly hoping nobody would try to talk to me. That I can’t instantly speak twelve languages has always been such a disappointment to me. The owner of a pizza shop my family patronized regularly while I was growing up could speak and read six languages! He always had a few different newspapers out for diners to look through, including one that was either Greek or Turkish! I have raging jealousy of people who are fluent in more than one language. I can only decipher Spanish, and it is a slow process for me, and probably painful for Spanish-speakers to witness.

If I ever leave Hartford, it will be for Alaska or Boston. You can quote me on that.

My other exit from Connecticut was a day at (more…)

If you read this blog even sporadically, you have probably figured out that I prefer it when people call things as they are, rather than attempt to obscure reality. Well, I watched this segment last night and was in awe that someone who is somewhat respected in the media actually had the nerve to put in plain language what this country is being subjected to.

Mike Gravel: A New Englander by birth, an Alaskan by choice, Mike Gravel is a Unitarian who was educated at Columbia University. Essentially, he fits both my idea of a good candidate and an interesting romantic partner (except for a few small details, like that he is older than my parents, but I digress). He believes that abortion should always be legal, the death penalty should not be permitted for federal crimes, and that small amounts of marijuana should be legal. He vows to get rid of No Child Left Behind, the set of testing requirements that has so many public school teachers pulling their hair out. Gravel would raise the minimum wage and adopt a universal health care program. He promises to withdraw all troops from Iraq within 120 days of taking office. Gays would be protected in federal anti-discrimination laws and he would allow same-sex marriage. The icing on the cake is that he strongly supports impeachment of Bush and Cheney. He has also been noted as saying:

This country – and this world – needs more love. Love trumps morality, morality trumps politics.

Awww!
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