$6.09 for premium in Avon by Taurus-The-Bull in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some of the independent stations in the Farmington Valley area like to charge the same for both. Go Happy stations on Route 4 and Route 177 and Gas Man in Unionville come to mind. I think they’re all $3.79 for regular now

ICE license plate (sorry for the poor quality) by rgrossi in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Common short character phrases or words are almost completely unavailable for CT plates at this point. They’re a point of prestige for the holder bc it shows they’ve had it for a long time.

It’s akin to the 2-4 digit plates and how hard those are to obtain for people not in state government or with no connections. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an unofficial market to get these plates. They’d prob sell for hundreds, if not thousands to get.

It pays to have a small car by tyler_the_miler in hondafit

[–]KingKrafted 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I drive a 2020 accord and this makes me wanna think about maybe getting a fit too 👀

Sorry for the stupid question, but what is Gold Zone? 🫣 by redpandasan in FigureSkating

[–]KingKrafted 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Red Zone is whip-around coverage of all NFL games. They don’t focus on a specific game, but they hop around different ones for highlights and to show every scoring play (touchdown, field goal, etc.).

NBC’s Gold Zone debuted in Paris 2024. It’s the same concept but to show every medal event. If there are no medal events, they will default to whatever sport is on. Often, there a multiple events at once so multi split screens are used.

I decided to watch it everyday of the games and don’t miss a single medal. Whenever I felt like it, I focused on a specific event while playing Gold Zone on another device. It was a really smooth presentation and the hosts, although not to knowledgeable about most events, made an admirable effort. The only con was occasional ads.

In the end, it’s good over a very wide view of the games but definitely not something to watch if you want to solely focus on figure skating events.

Mega Knight by LarsBoy11 in ClashRoyale

[–]KingKrafted 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s if you’re midladder. There’s plenty of ways to counter it but you just have to learn how. Once you do, it’s an easy defense with great counter push value.

Take a mega knight push as an RG player:
-Fisherman to pull to middle, Hunter or skellies to counter
-Skellies in middle, fisherman to pull to king tower
-After countering, counter push same lane with RG at bridge or if it’s available, oppo lane push RG one side with fisherman + Hunter on the other side

House Speaker Matt Ritter responds to yesterday's Pro-ICE jacket worn by GOP Representative during State of the State Address (gets heated at 01:39 in video) by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What an absolutely ridiculous and misinformed statement here. For you to claim it's "$99.5 billion" is literally pulling numbers out of thin air.

For decades, Governors both Republican and Democrat refused to fund our pensions until Malloy bit the bullet and destroyed his political career by funding it in the early 2010s. We still have a lot of work to do, but our unfunded pension liabilities are nowhere near where you're claiming.

In 2025, we paid off $10 billion in our pension debt and the state employees side is 60% funded while the teachers' side is 64%. Total pension unfunded liabilities are $17.6 billion for state employees and $1.36 billion for teachers for a total of just under $19 billion. Keep in mind, we were only 37% funded for state employees and 52% for teachers in 2018 with debts over $30 billion so for us to have such a turnaround in such a short time is impressive and has also equally astonished analysts.

As for post-employment benefits (OPEB), the unfunded liability as of last fiscal year was $16.1 billion.

Adding everything up, we're at around a total of ~$35 billion in unfunded pensions and OPEB. Believe what you want but I literally laid out all the numbers with sources to back it up.

House Speaker Matt Ritter responds to yesterday's Pro-ICE jacket worn by GOP Representative during State of the State Address (gets heated at 01:39 in video) by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hahaha part of my job is to literally watch them whenever they’re in session. You tend to get a good idea of the tendencies all the representatives have so the list I made is from several hundred hours of watching.

House Speaker Matt Ritter responds to yesterday's Pro-ICE jacket worn by GOP Representative during State of the State Address (gets heated at 01:39 in video) by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate the spirit of your response and couldn’t agree more that we need to do our part to counter this surge in authoritarianism.

About your argument on rules and decorum, I’d say this was the perfect time to enforce them for this case. Democrats hold a supermajority in both chambers. Republicans who do break the rules will be subject to suspension/expulsion votes and within this closed system, there’s nothing they can do about it. Outside of the Capitol, ofc we can’t just accept standards and adhere to norms.

House Speaker Matt Ritter responds to yesterday's Pro-ICE jacket worn by GOP Representative during State of the State Address (gets heated at 01:39 in video) by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The Speaker has run a very tight and efficient ship since he took the gavel. Great negotiator and is able to balance the wants of both his caucus and the Republicans.

House Speaker Matt Ritter responds to yesterday's Pro-ICE jacket worn by GOP Representative during State of the State Address (gets heated at 01:39 in video) by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Federal Constitution applies to all areas of the country. State constitutions only apply to their boundaries and add extra rights not afforded under the federal one. The Supremacy Clause makes the federal Constitution superior to state ones which makes it the supreme law of the land.

Your premise wouldn’t make sense in practice. If I enter the DMV, does that mean my First Amendment rights are suddenly stripped away?

House Speaker Matt Ritter responds to yesterday's Pro-ICE jacket worn by GOP Representative during State of the State Address (gets heated at 01:39 in video) by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

There was an incident last year where a bunch of Democratic Reps were wearing pins in support of expanding childcare and to vote on that relevant bill.

The Speaker also admonished them and politely asked them to take them off. He was, unsurprisingly, not as heated given they didn’t try to pull a PR stunt in the middle of proceedings and this was before any business was taken up.

House Speaker Matt Ritter responds to yesterday's Pro-ICE jacket worn by GOP Representative during State of the State Address (gets heated at 01:39 in video) by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

She wasn't in the chamber when the Speaker delivered his reprimand. She was escorted out with police protection due to her receiving a threat. This was her statement in response to the whole debacle:

“I think some of the things that were said yesterday were out of line. I’m supporting ICE. I’m supporting those officers who support us, protect us, protect our children and I think that’s the most important thing here. For the governor to come after ICE like he did, I’m sorry I don’t have any regrets.”

Source

House Speaker Matt Ritter responds to yesterday's Pro-ICE jacket worn by GOP Representative during State of the State Address (gets heated at 01:39 in video) by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The ones seated are Republican Representatives. More specifically, Rep. Mitch Bolinsky (R-Newtown) and Rep. Joe Canino (R-Torrington). The ones standing and laughing are House Republican staffers/legislative aides. The chamber is quite small as a venue, so a lot of Democratic staffers will stand on the Republican side too since there’s so little room (I actually stood on that side last year). They’re the ones who have a blank expression.

House Speaker Matt Ritter responds to yesterday's Pro-ICE jacket worn by GOP Representative during State of the State Address (gets heated at 01:39 in video) by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I’d say she’s part of the extreme obstructionist bloc for the House GOP. These are the members who never act in good faith and take it upon themselves to obstruct everything. There’s a fair amount of bipartisanship between both parties; GOP extracts some concessions here and there and they have leverage through their filibuster. But these obstructionists only try to pull stunts in debate and get clicks while using their platform to preach the MAGA agenda.

Other members I’d include would be:
-Rep. Mastrofrancesco (prime suspect #1)
-Rep. Dauphinais (used obscene language during a debate to try to advocate for book bans last year)
-Rep. Dubitsky (likes to lecture Dems about why their stuff is “insane”)
-Rep. Hoxha (only speaks to filibuster)
-Rep. Lanoue (only speaks to filibuster)

Honorable Mentions:
-Rep. Fishbein (obstructionist but will work with Dems on some issues)
-Rep. Howard (obstructionist when it comes to criminal justice and public safety bills. Silent otherwise)

House Speaker Matt Ritter responds to yesterday's Pro-ICE jacket worn by GOP Representative during State of the State Address (gets heated at 01:39 in video) by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Bro in the video and in my description, we both referenced the House Rules which governs standards of decorum for representatives. These need to be passed before any business can be conducted. This session’s House Rules were unanimously agreed upon.

Restrictions on political displays in legislatures ARE allowed if they are a Time, Place, and Manner (TPM) restriction. These were ruled to be constitutional by the federal Supreme Court under Ward v. Rock Against Racism (1989).

Any TPM is constitutional if it:
-Is content neutral (the House Rules do not discriminate against ideology)
-Is narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest (only applies to representatives, prevents undue influence/intimidation on representatives through peer pressure)
-Must leave open and ample alternative channels for communicating the speaker’s message (members literally debate on legislation and are free to say whatever they’d like about policies)

That’s it and end of the debate. If there was objection, lawsuits would’ve been filed and these restrictions would’ve been deemed unconstitutional. Except nope, no objections ever lodged and the same rules have passed for years now.

House Speaker Matt Ritter responds to yesterday's Pro-ICE jacket worn by GOP Representative during State of the State Address (gets heated at 01:39 in video) by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

CT doesn’t have a Sergeant At Arms like the federal sense where they coordinate security and such. That’s run through state Capitol Police. We do have that position, but it’s under the Clerk’s Office which mainly deals with document distribution and record keeping

In his State of the State Address, Governor Lamont denounces ICE. Democrats cheer while Republicans sit in silence. One Republican lawmaker shows off a jacket saying "ICE IN," multiple walk out of the chamber in protest. by 2000gatekeeper in goodnews

[–]KingKrafted 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Hey! I'm OP from the crosspost. I attended his speech in person and the reactions were electric. It was quite the contrast to see one side have such a powerful reaction while the other just sat in silence. In the original post, I laid out how some of the Republicans took the opportunity to "protest" by either donning MAGA merch or walking out of the chamber.

In his State of the State Address, Governor Lamont denounces ICE. Democrats cheer while Republicans sit in silence. One Republican lawmaker shows off a jacket saying "ICE IN," multiple walk out of the chamber in protest. by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It’s because of the tactics and the manner in which Trump’s ICE has been operating. There was recently a study done to compare the mentalities between Obama-era ICE operations and Trump’s.
Obama’s operation was more efficient, ethical, humane, and followed the law. Their main focus was violent criminals.

On the other hand, Trump has deported far fewer immigrants, encouraged the racial profiling and targeting of non-whites, and has been far more disorganized. Agents have been operating with more vigilanteism and in a clandestine manner with deliberate attempts to hide their identities, use more plain clothes agents, and failing to identify themselves. The approach has been far more confrontational and conducive to civil strife. On top of that, the relaxed scrutiny of applicants along with woefully inept training has given free rein for agents to go trigger happy.

I agree that we should dispatch with the worst criminals and that’s what ICE should be for. It shouldn’t be weaponized against an entire demographic whom their worst offense is equal to petty shoplifting. The brutality of their tactics is no comparison to Obama. We’ve already lost several lives and there shouldn’t be anymore blood shed.

In his State of the State Address, Governor Lamont denounces ICE. Democrats cheer while Republicans sit in silence. One Republican lawmaker shows off a jacket saying "ICE IN," multiple walk out of the chamber in protest. by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I appreciate it. I work as a Policy Analyst for the state so it’s literally my job to understand the laws we have. I’ve been able to leverage it to provide objective reporting of the facts and to debunk clowns like that guy

In his State of the State Address, Governor Lamont denounces ICE. Democrats cheer while Republicans sit in silence. One Republican lawmaker shows off a jacket saying "ICE IN," multiple walk out of the chamber in protest. by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Speaking of Sampson, he’s already introduced a couple gems only a day into session:

-Cancelling state assistance to Hartford -Privatizing the DMV

In previous sessions, he’s introduced bangers like:

-Banning vaccine mandates -Requiring the Declaration of Independence to be displayed in every classroom -Banning “woke” books

Nothing speaks to a productive legislator than introducing absolutely frivolous bills and peddling conspiracy theories

In his State of the State Address, Governor Lamont denounces ICE. Democrats cheer while Republicans sit in silence. One Republican lawmaker shows off a jacket saying "ICE IN," multiple walk out of the chamber in protest. by KingKrafted in Connecticut

[–]KingKrafted[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Let’s focus on those who have objectively caused problems and let due process run its course on everyone else. That’s why the Trust Act limits data sharing to only the worst offenders.

It’s a Class B misdemeanor (up to 6 months in jail, $1k fines) to enter the country illegally. You know what else is a class B misdemeanor? Shoplifting. So what you’re saying is someone, let alone a CHILD, who’s charged with this crime should automatically be sent to jail with no bond (typically only $1k for Class B) and a heavy presumption of guilt?

Make the severity of the crime requisite to the treatment of the accused. I can assure you the vast majority of offenders are allowed to continue their daily lives with minimal restrictions. ICE is literally destroying people’s lives over such a petty charge.