Essay
In one of those old cartoons that — for better or for worse — taught moral lessons to a couple of generations of Americans, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck come across a Middle Eastern cave filled with treasure. Searching every corner to make sure that he hasn’t missed a penny, Daffy comes across a magic…
Perspective from on high; the empathetic view from my soap box; cover-up as economic development; what happens when that which can’t go on forever doesn’t. Continue reading on the Ocean State Current…
In a post yesterday describing some of Ken Block’s findings about apparent voting problems with the master lever, Patrick wrote 115 times [in Burrillville], the line was connected in favor of the Moderate party, but then all but 18 times, the voters chose someone else for Governor. The initial temptation is to make a glib…
Since the topic of straight-party voting has come up, of course there are those who want the option to stay. They believe that if I don’t want to use it, I don’t have to, but why take it away from those who do want to use it? Hey, great question. Let’s answer that. Because many…
Ken Block’s Eliminate the Master Lever in Rhode Island! website is now reporting that a majority of the members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives say they support the elimination of the straight party option (a.k.a. the “master lever”) from Rhode Island general election ballots. The RI Senate tally still shows 10 votes in…
Anyone want to attempt some big-picture speculation about what the numbers presented by Jeff Wise in Slate Magazine imply for a society that has baked the assumption of a growing population into its institutions and basic perceptions of the future…Instead of skyrocketing toward uncountable Malthusian multitudes, researchers at Austria’s International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis…
According to Ken Block, founder of the Rhode Island Moderate Party and creator and sponsor of the Eliminate the Master Lever in Rhode Island! website, just five more State Representatives out of a total 31 undecideds are needed for a majority of Reps to be on record as supporting the elimination of straight-party voting (a.k.a…
The “protection of freedom of religion” in the same-sex marriage bill introduced into the Rhode Island House by Representative Arthur Handy (D – Cranston) is extremely narrow. As it currently stands, the text reads…15-3-6.1. Protection of freedom of religion in marriage (a) Consistent with the guarantees of freedom of religion set forth by both the…
Rhode Island citizens, legislators and lobbyists are invited to use this compilation of various laws from neighboring states relating to marriage and freedom of religion protections as a resource for their upcoming deliberations on same-sex marriage. ConnecticutSection 46b 22b:Refusal to solemnize or participate in ceremony solemnizing a marriage on religious grounds. (a) No member of…
Look, GoLocalProv does and has done some excellent work. Just this morning, for example, we taxpayers appreciate the reminder to our elected officials that 30+ cities and towns have busted the tax cap since 2009. (Why? Property taxes in Rhode Island were quite high enough in 2009. Was there, for example, a corresponding increase in…
