Engaged Citizen

Peter Bonk: The Opposite of Warming and a Brit Quotes Lincoln – the Last, Dramatic Day of the 4th ICCC

By Engaged Citizen | May 24, 2010 | Comments Off on Peter Bonk: The Opposite of Warming and a Brit Quotes Lincoln – the Last, Dramatic Day of the 4th ICCC

I attend talks focusing on the influence of solar activity on climate, and the news is not good. Both speakers suggest that we will soon be entering another Little Ice Age! For those of you keeping score, the Little Ice Age is a well documented period from 1300 to 1850 AD when generally cooler temperatures…

Peter Bonk at the 4th ICCC – Monday, Part II: Pointlessly Expensive Energy Policies; the Importance of Being Unearnest; In Defense of Proxy Measurements

By Engaged Citizen | May 23, 2010 | Comments Off on Peter Bonk at the 4th ICCC – Monday, Part II: Pointlessly Expensive Energy Policies; the Importance of Being Unearnest; In Defense of Proxy Measurements

The second half of the morning gets seriously wonkish. I enjoyed the presentation from Mike Jungbauer, a State Senator from Minnesota (“Come for the weather, stay for the taxes”) whom I had met at the 2nd ICCC in NYC last year. He describes the costs of many of the regulations in his home state: one…

Peter Bonk: Monday Morning at the 4th ICCC: Tough Talk about Fraud (and Rhode Island Once Again Pops Up on the Wrong End of a National Ranking)

By Engaged Citizen | May 18, 2010 |

The breakfast speakers are Patrick Michaels from George Mason University and George Allen, former Senator and Governor of Virginia. Professor Michaels is deadpan and funny with a serious message. He takes the reprobates associated with the “Climategate” scandal to task for corrupting the peer review process, labeling the behavior “hanging offenses”, and he is right.…

John Biszko: Rhode Island’s It for Me II

By Engaged Citizen | May 18, 2010 |

Sailboats on whitecaps turn and toss Each mayor — his own tomato sauce Taxes so high yet our bridges fall Here! Getchya Pawsox tikitz! Come one. Come all. E’er true flies the elegant seagull O’er the playground of the illegal The foghorn wanes its comforting blast Come join our burgeoning entitlement class. In 1772 the…

Peter Bonk: Standing Room Only at the First Evening of the 4th ICCC

By Engaged Citizen | May 17, 2010 | Comments Off on Peter Bonk: Standing Room Only at the First Evening of the 4th ICCC

The room is packed. Heartland Institute officials tell me the room can only hold 800 people, and all the seats are filled. Attendance had to be closed down prior to the start of the conference. A small group of protesters, students from a suburban high school, were holding a long banner in front of the…

Peter Bonk: Reporting on the 4th ICCC from the Edge of a Long-Melted Glacier

By Engaged Citizen | May 16, 2010 |

I arrived in Chicago Sunday morning after a weekend in the Detroit area to see the Redsox play the Tigers and visit family, in the area where I grew up. Flying from DTW to Midway on this clear morning, one can’t help but notice the many lakes in Michigan that we fly over; and there…

Michael Morse: Doing Business in Rhode Island

By Engaged Citizen | May 3, 2010 |

Nobody said starting a business would be easy. I didn’t expect it to be. Nobody told me I would get rich. I probably won’t. A lot of folks said it would be impossible. Opening a business is not cheap. I needed every penny of equity from my home to make it happen. I’ve lived a…

Jeffrey Deckman: A Clarification

By Engaged Citizen | January 29, 2010 |

I noticed some confusion surrounding my recent remarks pertaining to the distinctions between the RISC Business Network and the Tea Party. Unfortunately, communications in, and with, the media require a level of forced brevity at times. I appreciate the opportunity to provide some clarification on my statements. My point is this: The Tea Party has…

Will Ricci: Re: Closing the Primary

By Engaged Citizen | January 11, 2010 |

To respond to RIGOP Chairman Gio Cicione’s commentary about closing the Republican primary in this election cycle: The Executive Committee meeting was held, and with little or no debate on the merits of a closed primary, a 26 to 10 vote was cast to recommend holding a special meeting on January 19th. This is technically…

Gio Cicione: Closing the Primary – Not in Haste, Not During an Election Year

By Engaged Citizen | January 11, 2010 |

Dear Members of the Republican State Central Committee: I am writing to you today to discuss the recent debate arising from a request last week by the Executive Committee of our organization to schedule a special state Central Committee meeting. This debate has, unfortunately, become something of a public spectacle, and in my opinion has…