November 18, 2008
From the Progressive Democrats of America, RI chapter:
Annual Rhode Island Statewide PDA Meeting
Well be meeting in the community room in the basement of the library. The phone number for the library is 401-455-8105.
There is always plenty of on-street parking available at this location. If anyone needs a ride or wants to carpool let me know. As you can tell there is a lot of work to be done sooner rather that later.
We will cover both inside political national strategies & local strategies as well as outside strategies of our Issue Organizing Teams. Please feel free to email me any comments if you cannot attend or give me a call if you would like to talk.
Robert Malin
RI Co-Coordinator
401-364-5963
robertmalin@cox.net
When Tuesday, November 18, 2008
7 PM - 8:30 PM
Where Mt. Pleasant branch library
315 Academy Ave.
Providence, RI 02908
November 17, 2008
Steven Stark makes a lively observation: the national fade of the Republican Party coincides with the rise of conservative talk-radio:
Rush Limbaugh's show was syndicated in 1988. It's been a steady climb toward the top of the ratings for him and his imitators ever since, but pretty much downhill for the party they all support. Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and the others are enormously successful media performers and they may have single-handedly rescued AM radio from financial oblivion over the past two decades.
But while wildly popular with their devotees, these partisan bloviators are enormously unpopular with the electorate as a whole. Limbaugh, for example, has about a two-to-one unfavorable rating nationally, according to a Rasmussen Poll.
As Stark notes, the favored politician of many of these talkers was Ronald Reagan, whose cool disposition stands in contrast to their hot temperament.
Today, in a media universe of thousands of choices, the key to economic success is to find your intense minority and play to it for all it's worth. But divisiveness is as profitable in radio as it is fatal to a mass political movement.
One can see this tension being played out even now. Sarah Palin energizes the talk-radio base and is already being pushed as the inevitable next GOP leader. But Palin — like most talk-radio champions — is enormously divisive. Good for ratings; bad for politics.
The Republicans do have a Reagan/Godfrey-like figure right in their midst. Aside from Barack Obama, of course, the biggest political success story of 2008 was Mike Huckabee, who emerged from absolutely nowhere, with no money, to become a national figure. He is quite conservative but virtually alone in his party. He speaks the language of economic populism in an amiable way that reassures voters.
The key to a Republican revival will be whether they head in the direction of Huckabee and the stylistic mainstream embodied by Reagan, or in the discordant direction of Palin. The economic imperatives of talk radio will push them toward Palin. But unless the Republicans learn how to preach to the masses and not the choir, they're going to remain in the proverbial wilderness for a very long time.
November 17, 2008
This Brown University event sounds like a winner:
As part of the opening celebrations for the student-curated exhibition Jews and American Comics: The New Generations, famed comic artist and director of the Center for Cartoon Studies, James Sturm, will give a keynote address and participate in a panel discussion that will explore Jewish themes in comics strips and comic books, and the ways that Jews have shaped this popular American art form. The panel will also include Jason Lutes, a 1991 RISD graduate and artist of the renowned "Berlin Series," and Sara Rosenbaum ’00, a former comic artist and former Providence Journal staff writer. This event begins at 5 p.m. in Salomon Center for Teaching, Room 001. A reception and the exhibit opening will follow immediately at 6:30 p.m. at the John Nicholas Brown Center, 357 Benefit St.
November 17, 2008
Speaking of Liasson, she gave Obama favorable reviews on his transition effort.
In contrast to the Clinton administration, when Cabinet picks were finalized just days before 42 took office, Obama is moving with alacrity to fill the top jobs. Such helpers as Leon Panetta have learned from past mistakes, Liasson said, and the administration-in-waiting is focused on the economy and national security.
Liasson described chief of staff Rahm Emanuel as a pragmatic centrist who, thanks to his former leadership of the DCCC, will create an additional power base to rival that of Nancy Pelosi.
If Hillary Clinton does not become SOS, she will remain a potential Supreme Court pick, Liasson said.
The NPR reporter was introduced by former Brown professor Darrell West, who said running into Joseph Lieberman at a Georgetown shopping center made him feel like he was at Providence Place.
West said he hasn't seen the likes of the spontaneous public cheering that greeted Obama's victory since the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004. The audience responded with laughter, prompting the pundit to note that the line doesn't work nearly as well in DC.
November 17, 2008
During her appearance at Providence's Central Congregational Church last night, NPR's Mara Liasson noted how Barack Obama has been likened to the Google of politics -- because of his facility with technology and because of his unparalleled audience.
She had not yet read the story about how Obama is going to have to give up his BlackBerry, but Liasson predicted that Obama's socially-networked legion of followers and super-volunteers will be regularly called upon to contact lawmakers and otherwise support his agenda. In response to a question, she said that he has the opportunity to be a great president.
Like Google, however, the technological reach of the president-elect is raising privacy concerns.
Angler, Barton Gellman's Dick Cheney biography, describes how Cheney subjected potential W running mates to unprecedented background examinations before he emerged as the VP candidate, thereby gaining a rich vein of deeply personal information that could be used for less than sterling purposes.
There might be some significant differences, but applicants for Obama's administration also have to lay bare their personal history.
And Ari Herzog (h/t Dan Kennedy) notes that this info will be stored on the server of a private company, not the government's.
Notice the bottom of the page where it says the application system is powered by Cluen technology?
Click the link and be redirected to the Cluen Corporation, an 18-year-old private firm that provides recruiting software solutions.
The basic idea behind the company’s Searchlight technology is a recruiting agency can collect data through online forms that are masked to be at the agency’s website and the data is stored on secure Cluen servers.
November 16, 2008
While Obama's use of YouTube has been cited as an emblem of his tech-friendliness, it's only a matter of time before his BlackBerry gets yanked, reports today's New York Times.
But before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing president, but aides said that seemed doubtful.
For all the perquisites and power afforded the president, the chief executive of the United States is essentially deprived by law and by culture of some of the very tools that other chief executives depend on to survive and to thrive. Mr. Obama, however, seems intent on pulling the office at least partly into the 21st century on that score; aides said he hopes to have a laptop computer on his desk in the Oval Office, making him the first American president to do so.
November 15, 2008
During a Thursday evening panel discussion as part of URI's Journalism Day, Marc Genest saved his biggest salvo for last.
Genest, a professor at the Naval War College in Newport, spent most of his speaking time excoriating what he called an overwhelming media bias in favor of Barack Obama during the presidential campaign. He was joined on the panel by Jill Lawrence, a veteran political reporter for USA Today, and myself.
Lawrence defended the performance of MSM print reporters such as herself. I generally agreed, I also cited something of a collective media crush for Obama. It didn't matter, I added, since the media don't decide elections and since the economy was the dominant issue.
Toward the end of the discussion, Genest said the media's greatest failing is superficiality, and that because of that, news consumers should pursue information from a variety of sources. The latter point is irrefutable, although Genest veered too far into an elitist point of view when he dismissed the downsized ProJo as not worth reading. Better, he said, to get info online from such sources as the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Economist.
That's good as far as it goes, but it doesn't go far enough. While the ProJo's decline is undeniable, the paper, supplemented by independent blogs (from the left and right) and other sources, is a necessary read for informed Rhode Islanders.
The panel noted some obvious grounds for criticism: an overemphasis on the horserace, rather than issue-oriented political reporting, among others. Ultimately, though, the absence of a new commercial format for sustaining journalism is a far bigger problem for civil society than what some describe as media bias.
November 14, 2008
Speaking of Tim White, he was interested by my short piece this week on Wayne Franklin, so Franklin and Owen Johnson, another of the new wave of entrepreneurs who sometimes gather under the Geek umbrella, joined us for this morning's taping of WPRI/WNAC-TV's Newsmakers.
Johnson went so far as to say that Providence has tipped in favor of a point where the smal but important IT-digital media sector can make some big gains. Watch the show for details. Investment guru Don Sowa also joins us to talk about the economy.
In related news, the Providence Geeks are slated to have their next dinner on Wednesday, November 19. And RI Nexus sends along word of the following:
The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation will host two financing educational seminars and panels this month: “Navigating the Credit Crunch: Alternative Lending Sources” on Wednesday, November 19 at noon and “Financing Fast Growth” on Tuesday, November 25 at 10 a.m. Both events will be held at the RIEDC’s Providence offices located at 555 Valley St., Providence and are free to the public.
Navigating the Credit Crunch: Alternative Lending Sources
Who: Moderator: Ralph X. Stone, Commercial Financial Consulting
Peter Aransky, Greenfield Commercial Credit
George P. Gochis, Diamond Business Credit
Jack O’Neil, Danvers Savings Bank
David McIlroy, Wells Fargo Business Credit
What: While Rhode Island banks are an important source of capital for the state's businesses, a moderated panel discussion will introduce Rhode Island companies to non-bank sources of debt capital. Local businesses will meet alternative asset-based lenders, learn how their loan products work and create relationships with potential new lending sources. Lunch will be provided.
When: Wednesday, November 19 Noon–2 p.m.
Where: Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, 555 Valley St. Providence, 401-278-9100. Google maps
The program and lunch are free, but registration ends on November 17. Contact moconnor@riedc.com to RSVP.
Financing Fast Growth in Rhode Island
Who: Michael Gurau and Michael Burgmaier, Clear Venture Partners
Richard G. Horan, Slater Technology Fund
Peter Dorsey, Cherrystone Angels and BDCRI
Tim O’Loughlin, Vencore Capital
Richard Ferro, RLF Management Services
What: An educational seminar detailing early stage capital sources for Rhode Island fast growth businesses, featuring local equity and near equity capital providers followed by lunch and networking. Attendees will learn about equity sources and how to tap into them, the venture capital process, how angel investors differ from venture capital, and innovation and technology grants.
When: Tuesday, November 25 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
Where: Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, 555 Valley St. Providence, 401-278-9100. Google maps
The program and lunch are free, but registration ends on November 18. Contact jw@clearvcs.com to RSVP.
November 14, 2008
My friend Tim White has been doing an excellent series on WPRI-TV, Probing Pensions, looking at the high cost of overly generous pensions at a time when Rhode Island and its cities and towns continue to struggle with budget issues.
His latest report details how the most lucrative pension in the state goes to retired Providence fire chief Gilbert McLaughlin, who collects a monthly tax-free sum of $12,991. The 11 other top post-tax pensions, can be found here.
As White reports, former RI Supreme Court chief justice Joseph Weisberger receives a monthly pension of $15,495, but after taxes, the amount is reduced to about $9700.
Providence Mayor David Cicilline tells White that pensions like those received by McLaughlin are "an affront to the hardworking taxpayers of the city . . . The pensions you're describing were awarded under an old system before I took office and those would never happen to day."
But we're paying for them. Our top retirees called it quits between 1990 and 1992, at a time when generous annual "cost-of-living increases" were handed out. In fact, thanks to compound interest, their annual pension take-home doubles about every 11 years. By our count, and confirmed by city hall, there are 108 retired Providence firefighters or police officers collecting these generous pensions.
Tim White asks, "$13,000 a month tax-free how is this ok?"
Paul Doughty, the President, Providence Firefighters' Union responds, "That's a lot of money."
Even Providence Firefighters' Union president Paul Doughty is amazed by the figure. He points out, though; our top five were high-salary department chiefs, not rank-and-file union members. But he agrees pensions were not meant for people to get rich.
"As a taxpayer, they should have looked at it better then," says Doughty.
November 14, 2008
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Marriage Equality RI has a benefit tonight . . .
Cranston - Although the Ocean State is now officially the "Island of Inequality" when it comes to equal marriage rights for its gay and lesbian citizens, hope abounds. On Friday November 14 at the RISD Auditorium in Providence, Rhode Island, the Marriage Equality Rhode Island Education Fund (MERIEF) will host a celebration of the recent landmark decision in Connecticut allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry with a special meet and greet reception and the Rhode Island premiere of the newly released documentary, Saving Marriage. (www.savingmarriagethemovie.com)
On October 10, the day of the CT Supreme Court decision, Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) attorney Bennett Klein remarked, "Today's victory fulfills the hopes and dreams of gay and lesbian families... Marriage is unparalleled in the dignity, respect and protection it gives families." Connecticut is the second state in New England-and the third in the United States-to swing open the doors to true equality for lesbian and gay couples.
But the stage for success in CT was set in Massachusetts three years ago. In 2005, a one-vote margin paved the way for marriage equality in MA and the beginning of this civil rights battleground for gay and lesbian couples nationwide. The documentary about the Massachusetts struggle, Saving Marriage by here! Films/Regent Releasing, is a polished, behind-the-scenes look that tracks the two-year drama as it unfolded. Career politicians, seasoned lobbyists and ordinary people in MA were spurred to action and are featured as the film's storytellers. The directors for Saving Marriage, a lawyer and veteran television cameraman, took breaks from their West Coast careers and began filming the historic happenings in Boston to create a permanent record of this key time in the gay rights movement.
A protest tomorrow . . .
Join hundreds of your closest friends and show up at the Prop 8 protest rally on Saturday, 11/15, 1:30p at the STATE HOUSE south lawn (near the Providence Place mall.) We'll have music, the chance to speak, limited sign-making ability -- feel free to bring your own! If it's raining, DON'T STAY HOME -- bring an umbrella. THIS EVENT ISRAIN OR SHINE.
Meanwhile, there's a related editorial in this week's Boston Phoenix:
Thanks to these holy rollers, California enjoys the dubious distinction of rescinding a set of rights for the first time in American history. And make no mistake, marriage is a bundle of rights that encompasses more than a formalized recognition of love and affection. Marriage rights extend to a host of issues that include property, a couple’s mutual well-being, inheritances, and, in case of critical illness, perhaps even life or death.
(In 1996, Bill Clinton signed the federal Defense of Marriage Act, assuring that same-sex couples would remain ineligible for spousal benefits under Social Security, Medicare, or any other federal benefit program reserved for married couples, irrespective of individual states’ allowing gay marriage. In order to assure those rights nationally for same-sex couples, that law would still need to be taken off the books or overturned by the Supreme Court.)
As bad as the situation is in California, there is more than a glimmer of hope. (It is ironic to use Obama’s favorite word in this context, for the president-elect favors only civil unions, not full marriage rights.)
A host of groups are preparing to argue in the California courts that Proposition 8 — the name of the measure that rolled back same-sex marriage rights — is itself unlawful, since proposals that would significantly change the constitution must be approved by the state legislature before they can be put to a statewide vote.
November 14, 2008
From Advocacy Solutions:
Advocacy Solutions is pleased to announce today that we have acquired the State Relations and Campaigns practice of Clarendon Group, a Providence-based public affairs firm.
Beginning January 1, 2009, Clarendon Group's current State Relations and Campaigns team -- led by Arianne Corrente Lynch and including John Longo and Allison Kerbel -- will join the Advocacy Solutions staff where they will continue to provide the same outstanding level of service to their existing clients while contributing to our growing state relations and grassroots practices.
Over the years, we have shared several clients and developed close working relationships with our colleagues at Clarendon and have admired and respected their outstanding professionalism, thought leadership, and ability to make a difference on many key issues. We believe that adding Arianne, John, and Allison to our team will significantly strengthen our ability to provide unmatched expertise, increased value, and superior account service to an expanding roster of clients.
November 14, 2008
From the Young Dems:
PROVIDENCE - The Rhode Island Young Democrats - www.riyoungdems.org - announced today the election of Meghan Grady (23, Barrington) as president, Kimberly Ahern (25, Providence) as vice-president and Eric Coury (25, East Providence) as national committeeman. They are replacing outgoing president Andy Andujar (29, Providence), vice-president Matt Jerzyk (31, Providence) and national committeeman Julian Dash (30, Providence).
"We felt that now is an appropriate time to pass the torch to a new generation," Andujar said. "For the last three years, we have mobilized young people by the thousands to register to vote and to come out and vote for Democrats like Sheldon Whitehouse in 2006 and Barack Obama in 2008. And, there are more Democrats in the General Assembly than ever before."
"More than 30,000 young voters registered to vote in the last 18 months." said Jerzyk. "And the Young Democrats were not only instrumental in registering young people, but we organized hundreds of young people to get on buses to carry the battleground state of New Hampshire for Obama and solicited the help of people like Martin Sheen to do robocalls encouraging young people to come out and vote."
"We are incredibly grateful for the three years of leadership that Andy, Matt and Julian have given our organization," Grady said. "They did what all great leaders do: leave the organization in a much stronger position than how they found it. Our new leadership team hopes to do the same."
The rest of the board of the Young Democrats remains the same: Anthony Colaluca (25, Coventry), treasurer; Rich Blott (31, Narragansett), political director; and William Pierce (20, Warwick), Diversity chair.
There are currently three vacancies on the board for secretary, national committeewoman and communications director. The Young Democrats are encouraging all registered Democrats between the ages of 18 and 35 to submit letters of interest for any of these positions to riyoungdems@gmail.com before Friday, December 5th.
November 13, 2008
From the General Assembly:
STATE HOUSE –The Public Utilities Commission is preparing to review National Grid’s proposed plan to comply with a new law requiring the company to credit customers for excess solar or wind energy they produce.
The new law, sponsored by Rep. David A. Segal of Providence and passed by the General Assembly in June, requires electricity suppliers to use “net metering,” the practice of allowing customers on the electrical grid to be credited on their electricity bills for the value of electricity that they produce with generators such as solar panels or wind turbines but do not use. The new law is pivotal to the financing of wind turbine projects in Portsmouth and Barrington and will serve to encourage other such projects.
Without net metering, surplus electricity is pumped into the electrical grid and distributed to other customers – with the entity that produced it receiving no benefit. Representative Segal sponsored the legislation (2008-H 7809 Aaa) as a means to encourage more homeowners and businesses to invest in renewable energy generation projects.
The PUC has scheduled a pre-hearing conference Tuesday, Nov. 18, on National Grid’s proposed payment rates. While the meeting is procedural, it indicates that the law is on its way to taking effect, said Representative Segal (D-Dist. 2, Providence, East Providence.) The conference will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Hearing Room A of the PUC’s office at 89 Jefferson Blvd., Warwick.
“If we are serious about our commitment to encouraging renewable energy, we have to make sure that people get the full benefit of the energy they produce. They should get something back if they’re feeding their excess power into the grid. People will be a lot more interested in making an investment in renewable energy if they know they are going to get credit for their energy when they don’t need it all,” said Representative Segal.
November 13, 2008
You've heard about this underground. Now it's time for the real thing. In this week's Phoenix, Greg Cook writes about the unexpected world that Peter Goldberg found in Providence's combined overflow sewer project.
The steely, gritty black and white photos that he's printed in his studio show silhouetted men walking toward bright lights at the end of tunnels, a couple workers hanging out in a makeshift underground lounge, a bearded driver of a boxy mine train snaking down the dark tunnel, a man wading in the water licking the top of the tracks.
One picture shows a man wearing headphones at the controls of the boring machine, which resembles the cab of an old locomotive. Another shot shows pipes and cables and train tracks running down a tunnel, which brings to mind one of those endless shafts that turn up again and again in the Star Wars films.
But it's mostly another long time ago that they recall. The images follow in the footsteps of Lewis Hine's photos of sooty young coal breakers in the first decade of the 20th-century and ironworkers constructing New York's Empire State Building in the 1930s, Margaret Bourke-White's photos of factory laborers in the 1930s, W. Eugene Smith's photos of Pittsburgh steelworkers in the 1950s, and Sebastião Salgado's photos of miners and oil workers and tea pickers in the '80s and '90s. Flinty (and often downtrodden) workers are a stable of photojournalism.
"This is the same kind of work still going on," Goldberg says. "This is how you dig tunnels. I was really surprised to see that."
November 13, 2008
Lots of chances to discuss the just-past presidential race. Besides David Gergen at RWU this evening, and a panel tonight at URI, NPR's Mara Liasson is headed our way.
National Public Radio’s Mara Liasson will deliver the fifth Darrell West lecture on “The Impact of Race, Religion, and Gender on the Presidential Election”. Her lecture will take place at 6 p.m., Sunday, November 16 at Central Congregational Church, 296 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island.
Ms. Liasson serves as NPR’s national political correspondent. Her reports are heard regularly on NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition. She has covered every presidential election since 1992. She is a graduate of Brown University. Admission to the lecture is free and open to the public.