A Literal Notebook Dump
To fill in some of the unplanned posting slack in these very interesting times we’re living through, I present to you an actual notebook dump (with annotations). The underlined phrases are entries from my Anchor Rising dead-tree notebook, followed by a brief description of the posts they were (and still might) supposed to become. Meanwhile, some of the even bigger things going on in the world are being worked on, as fuller posts…
MJ & International treaties — At the same time Rhode Island is considering decriminalizing marijuana, the United Nations is telling the Federal Government of the United States that it shouldn’t let the states do this (Associated Press story here). There’s potential for identifying some common ground, between folks that don’t usually agree, about what makes government power legitimate. This is also an example to ponder about the degree to which treaties should or shouldn’t be used to make law within the United States.
NLRB controversy — You may have heard that the District of Columbia circuit court ruled that the President cannot make recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board if the Senate is not in recess (Washington Post story here). Because of this ruling, the NLRB no longer has a quorum for its meetings. What you may not know is that a further petition has been filed with the Court, asking it to suspend any further action in a Rhode Island case that was ruled on by the vacated NLRB members. Details of the Rhode Island case (United Nurses and Allied Professionals [Kent Hospital] and Jeanette Geary) are available here.
Predictability post — We know that policymakers, especially economic policymakers, like to cite predictability as a goal, e.g. Governor Chafee saying his administration has “created a climate of certainty, stability, and predictability” in response to the latest state unemployment figures. However, predictability really shouldn’t be a goal in and of itself, especially when what seems to be very predictable is people dropping out of the Rhode Island labor force.
Immigration/Amnesty proposals — According to folks who follow this issue closely, the latest talk about “comprehensive immigration reform” coming from Washington’s political elite all begins from the assumption that an immediate amnesty will be step 1 with other steps to follow — but in all of these deals, the immediate amnesty is all that matters (and maybe the real goal), and everything else is just window dressing.
“We have created a climate of certainty, stability, and predictability”
-Except new regulations are enacted every year
-Except new taxes and tax reforms are proposed or enacted every year
-Except many municipalities have colossal deficits and pension liabilities and could file for bankruptcy at any time
-Except the state is continuously hemorrhaging jobs and losing income
-Except the state-run EDC could hand out a multi-million dollar loan or tax credit to your business’s politically connected competitors at any time
-Except the state’s rabid progressive/union crowd could start picketing your business for some perceived slight at any time
-Except the state might reinterpret its regulations to charge your business extra fees and fines at any time
Except for those things, yes, Rhode Island is very predicable (in its decline).
As a RI resident and business owner I often wonder what state Chafee is governor of. His views of what’s going on and mine hardly ever mesh.
Off topic to Dan, I got a good laugh over at the other blog last night as its owner mentioned you in the context of a hilarious discussion of the minimum wage and its affect on unemployment.
Back to topic, after reading that discussion I realize what state Chafee is governor of. The State of Denial.
Steve – Glad to hear it. If you really want a good laugh, check out the related Twitter exchange in which Plain attempted to argue that his recurring comparison of bankers to gangsters (“banksters” he calls them) on RIFuture is *totally different* from my one-time comparison of unions to gangsters, which Plain viewed as so heinous that he banned my content from his blog.
Plain’s blog is peopled my maladjusted fools and losers.Why would anyone read it?I did comment there years ago but after Crowley took over there was a level of intolerance that just got worse and worse to the point where Pat looked kind of moderate(!!).Now RIF is just a sewer.In retrospect Jerzyk was the least censorship prone of the whole bunch.
I just don’t understand why the people Bob Plain consistently misquotes and misrepresents on RIFuture don’t call him out on his lies.
To name one of numerous examples, on March 4, Plain wrote the following about his “interview” with Deborah Gist:
“In this clip, Gist admits that by her own metrics, EG students do get a better education than Central Falls students.”
Now watch the actual clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n1bJ-3UwoHI
Not only does Gist not “admit” that EG students get a better education than CF students – as Plain claims she said – Gist gave a completely different answer. She in fact said that “it depends” and it’s difficult to draw that conclusion because there are a combination of factors in play, including the starting proficiency level of the students.
Why don’t Gist, et al, call Plain out on these distortions? I would be very upset if I took time out of a busy schedule to speak with someone and they egregiously changed my words to suit their agenda.
Dan’s strange obsession with Bob Plain of RI Future fame is starting to remind me of Tattoo at the beginning of each new episode of Fantasy Island, screaming “Ze plane, Ze plane!”
Phil – Anyone can see for themselves that I did not introduce the topic of Plain to this thread. This is the second time you falsely accuse me of doing so.
You are a constant critic of Justin and other contributors on this blog. You also comment on RIFuture, yet not once have you ever taken Bob Plain to task for his distortions. What’s the matter, afraid of offending your progressive buddies? I at least have the courage to criticize this blog when I feel it’s warranted.