New Haven Independent

Opinion | June 22, 2009

They Call This Stuff The News

by Steve Kalb | June 22, 2009 4:18 PM | Permalink

There was real news this past weekend, and the networks along with most of the cable channels stayed home.

If you had hoped to turn on the TV to find out what was some call an uprising and others an insurrection in Iran, your choices were pretty much limited to two of the cable noise networks: CNN and FOX.

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Opinion | June 8, 2009

Drunken Logic

by Steve Kalb | June 8, 2009 11:24 AM | Permalink

Amazingly, Connecticut remains one of the seven states in the U.S. where people can drive around with an open bottle of alcohol nearby, so long as they are not drinking it. Or not seen drinking it.

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Opinion | May 26, 2009

Execute This

by Steve Kalb | May 26, 2009 7:47 AM | Permalink

I was thrilled when I heard that the legislature voted to abolish the death penalty in Connecticut. I have a unique perspective on this whole "kill-the-killers" mentality.

I watched the state do it.

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Opinion | May 11, 2009

Competitive Edge

by Steve Kalb | May 11, 2009 8:30 AM | Permalink

Almost any idiot can tell you that 12.2 cents is more than 10.4 cents. (Actually, 12.2 cents is 14.7 percent more than 10.4 cents.)

That is unless you are a legislator in Hartford, who voted (mostly on party lines) late last month to re-regulate the state's electric rates so that you and I can pay the 12.2 cents per kilowatt for electricity rather than around 10.4.

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Opinion | April 27, 2009

Just Following Orders

by Steve Kalb | April 27, 2009 12:03 PM | Permalink

Never again.

Under the guise of protecting our country from terrorists, President Bush along with his henchmen Dick Cheney and a host of amoral sociopaths, broke not only U.S. law but international law and in the process took the United States to hell. We tortured people.

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Opinion | April 8, 2009

Senate Should Ignore Nutty Glenn Beck Conspiracy Theories And Appoint Harold Koh

by Henry Fernandez | April 8, 2009 8:21 AM | Permalink

A small number of conspiracy-theory, far-right conservatives have raised concerns about Obama's appointment of Harold Koh to be Legal Adviser to the Department of State. Their nutty views have been trumped up by Fox News and the NY Post, with extremist Glenn Beck leading the charge. This despite there being no basis in reality for the charges against Koh.

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Opinion | April 6, 2009

I'll Buy Amercan On One Condition

by Steve Kalb | April 6, 2009 4:27 PM | Permalink

The Obama Administration has been falling over itself trying to figure out how to keep at least two and possibly three American car companies alive. But let's be realistic: If GM, Ford and Chrysler are going to survive people have to start buying their cars. Lots filled with unsold cars don't make for healthy companies.

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Opinion | March 24, 2009

No Bonus For The Constitution

by Steve Kalb | March 24, 2009 10:31 AM | Permalink

When Congress announces it is "horrified," I get terrified. There is nothing more dangerous than a congressman with a "cause" and a loaded pen.

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Opinion | March 8, 2009

Krispy Kreme Anyone?

by Steve Kalb | March 8, 2009 11:06 PM | Permalink

Lately like many New Yorkers, my wife hates Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Well sort of. It is not often she calls me from Grand Central screaming about his or anyone else's parentage and how it relates to a four legged animal with a tail, but she did last week.

And it was all over a hot chocolate.

Continue reading "Krispy Kreme Anyone?"

Opinion | February 27, 2009

Madoff Meets Match

by Paul Bass | February 27, 2009 5:56 AM | Permalink

Andy Ross opines: U.S. Treasury's Ponzi scheme's bigger.

Opinion | February 23, 2009

Deck Chairs

by Steve Kalb | February 23, 2009 12:11 PM | Permalink

I spent part of the weekend trying to find some place that sells deck chairs this time of year. I figure legislators and the governor should have something "comfy" to sit on when this ship of state drops below the surface and heads towards bottom.

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Opinion | February 8, 2009

Webless Wonders

by Steve Kalb | February 8, 2009 5:36 PM | Permalink

It seemed like a true legislative miracle last year when a bill designed to make it easier for people to know what government is doing on the local level was proposed and ultimately signed into law by Gov. Rell.

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Opinion | January 26, 2009

Go Buy A Newspaper

by Steve Kalb | January 26, 2009 8:35 AM | Permalink

Even as we run head over heels into an age where information is available everywhere -- our cell phones, iPods, and even in that funny thing in our car called a "radio" -- I think we are also racing towards becoming the most ill-informed society ever.

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Opinion | January 12, 2009

A Penny Saved

by Steve Kalb | January 12, 2009 5:04 PM | Permalink

When it comes to money everyone has an opinion. Save it, spend it, buy stocks, don't buy stocks. Pick one or pick 'em all -- we are surrounded by "experts."

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Opinion | December 29, 2008

Silly Season Starts

by Steve Kalb | December 29, 2008 10:46 AM | Permalink

Not long after the ball drops in Times Square, legislators will convene in Hartford to begin discussing what they plan to do about Connecticut's budget deficit, pegged for the next two years at a round $6 billion.

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Opinion | December 22, 2008

Divine Gay Rights

by Tom Ficklin | December 22, 2008 11:00 AM | Permalink

Ficklin's latest pod-ed.

Opinion | December 18, 2008

Daniels To Obama

by Tom Ficklin | December 18, 2008 11:26 AM | Permalink

The economies inherited by black gate-crashers: Ficklin's latest pod-ed.

Opinion | December 17, 2008

They Learn From Their Parents

by Steve Kalb | December 17, 2008 9:59 AM | Permalink

I am in awe as I watch the U.S. tumble into recession, a recession started in large part by banks willing to lend any amount of money to just abut anyone and irresponsible individuals incapable or unwilling to do simple math. For whatever reason, many people bought houses they couldn't afford and now expect someone to bail them out of the train wreck they helped to create.

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Opinion | December 1, 2008

An Alien View of the Holidays

by Steve Kalb | December 1, 2008 7:53 AM | Permalink

I suspect that if aliens from another planet landed in the United States some time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, they would have a fairly difficult time understanding the holidays. A conversation between two might go something like this:

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Opinion | November 17, 2008

Truth & Consequences

by Steve Kalb | November 17, 2008 12:22 PM | Permalink

On Tuesday members of the U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus will vote in secret on whether or not Joe Lieberman should continue as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Don't hold your breath waiting, but if Joe were as principled as he claims to be he would resign rather than wait for the vote.

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