Storm Warning

We got through Irene pretty easily, all things being equal -- we were without power for a day, but the generator kept the sump pump running. We were luckier than folks along the coast, who were without power for nearly a week. And a lot luckier than folks in Vermont, which we had visited the week before.

And now, on Oct. 29th, it's snowing. Before the trees have had a chance to shed their leaves. It wasn't supposed to really start coming down until late tonight, but here we are in the afternoon and it's falling fast and thick and I can see some tree limbs out my window are already weighed down.

Think I'm glad to have cut down the oak that was hanging over the house?

Funny, Irene had days of advance warning and though it did a lot of damage, it came here as a tropical storm, not a hurricane. This storm comparatively came out of nowhere and the results could be as bad, if not worse (though the threat of flooding inland isn't quite as high).

The generator and snow thrower are both gassed and ready, the pantry is loaded up with food. And so we wait and see.

It could be a few cold, dark days to come in North Stepford Falls.

Guilty as charged ... but now what?

So the second suspect in the Cheshire home invasion murders has been found guilty. My only question to the jury: What took you so long? Was the free food that good?

This has naturally kicked off discussion in the Nutmeg State about the death penalty, as since his co-conspirator has already been found guilty and sentenced to death, it's not a tremendous leap to extrapolate that he, too, will be condemned.

You'll note that I haven't given you their names. That's on purpose. Human beings who deserve dignity and respect get names. So they're clearly not eligible.

My initial thought when these crimes were committed (and if you're curious and/or you don't know, please go look it up somewhere else; I refuse to disrespect the victims by recounting or linking to the details of their deaths) is that the guilty deserve to die for what they did. Why? Because their crimes not only disrespected and ended three lives. They terrorized and scarred the entire state, your humble correspondent included. It was a sucker punch that left 3 million people dazed, frightened and sickened.

But before we schedule the execution tailgate party at MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution, there's this nagging little question: If they killed, and they are criminals and sinners for killing, what does make us for killing them?

As previously recounted in this space, the commandment does not offer a list of exceptions in which the taking of human life is acceptable. There's no wiggle room in "thou shalt not kill."

And it gets more difficult: Jesus directs to forgive not once or 7 times, but 70 times 7 times. And here I fall miserably short of the standard: I have serious doubts that I could forgive such creatures even once for committing such a crime against people I care about, never mind the remaining 139.

So what's my answer?

No. I won't lower myself to their bacterial level. Even though I truly believe they deserve it. Let them rot instead -- and then let an authority higher than the State of Connecticut determine the outcome. My guess? Where they're going, it's going to be very hot. All of the time.

As for the temporal realm: I'd be satisfied if they spent the rest of their lives in prison, but on one crucial condition -- that they remain in general population, with the worst and most sadistic murderers and gangsters, and not afforded any special status or protection from the guards.

After all, prisoners doing hard time have their own ways of meting out punishment.

This is a song about a Whale ... No!!!

It's been 14 NHL opening nights since the Mighty Whale was stolen from Hartford and taken to ... Raleigh, North Carolina?

The injustice of it all still boggles the mind.

It's not that I have any fondness for the Mighty Whale, even though they didn't have much of a rivalry with the Sabres until they got to their new home (and the less said of that, the better).

I've got nothing against the fine people of Raleigh, except for the knowledge that it is against the laws of nature for a hockey team to have cheerleaders.

Nor am I sure that Hartford is worthy of a major-league sports franchise. Um, I don't know how to break this to you, but, well ... No.

But any fan with a heart and a soul knows the way the Whalers were taken away was simply wrong.

They survived an arena collapse and playing most of a season in an AHL rink in Springfield until the Civic Center could be fixed. They survived years of mediocrity, losing the shortest playoff overtime game ever and enduring the shame of playing a major sport in a shopping mall. And for a brief time in the WHA days, they belonged to West Springfield ... if only I could have seen them play at Eastern States Coliseum, an edifice which defines "glorious old barn."

And so, to honor the Nutmeg State and the memories of Ronnie Franchise, Kevin Dineen and the great Peter Sidorkiewicz, I present Your Song, in all it's goofy, upbeat glory.

Now you're talking

For those who didn't know: I generally dislike the comment sections in stories on the Internet.

Me and the First Amendment get along fine. But the overwhelming majority of comments sections I have seen have forgotten that rights come with responsibilities and that freedom of speech is not absolute. So people are allowed to say outrageously hateful things, slander and libel with impunity, make unsubstantiated allegations and worst of all, write in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

And yes, sunshine is a fine disinfectant -- and these sorts of statements, out in the open, let us all know what a bunch of morons we can be. (And racists, sadly.) But they also have a chilling effect on a free and open exchange of ideas, because who wants to subject themselves to that kind of abuse? there's no shades of gray anywhere. All Republicans are wealthy jack-booted thugs; all Democrats are socialist atheist anti-gun hippies; all Tea Party members wear hats lined with Reynolds Wrap; and so on and so forth, can't we all just get along, blah blah blah ...

It all makes Mark Twain's view of the human race in his wickedly brilliant "Letters From The Earth" that much more sympathetic: "Man is a marvelous curiosity. When he is at his very, very best he is a sort of low grade nickel-plated angel; at his worst he is unspeakable, unimaginable; and first and last and all the time he is a sarcasm."

But if I'm going to replace my facebook experience with old-school media like blogs, then there needs to be some interactivity. That's just how it works.

So I've decided, for now, to enable comments on my blog. I am going to moderate them, to be sure, but comments there will be.

And this is your first chance. Got a comment about comments? Feel free to comment.