Marc Comtois
Only in Rhode Island, right? That the incoming Secretary of State, Ralph Mollis–you know, the general officer who is responsible for running clean elections–and one of his flunkies have been fined for violating campaign laws is quite an accomplishment, even in the RI political theater in which caricature has become reality. The Ethics Commission yesterday…
Musicians have been opposed to media consolidation and, as the recent firing of Arlene Violet shows, local on-air talk-show talent may have cause for concern, too. And while the personal concerns of those who are directly affected would seem understandable, what about those of us who are the consumers of the resulting “watered down” product?…
Apparently, the newly-elected Democrat controlled Congress is putting a kibosh on earmarks (via The Insider). So sayeth Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) and Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), soon-to-be-chairmen of the Senate and House appropriations committees: There will be no Congressional earmarks in the joint funding resolution that we will pass. We will place a moratorium on…
Hm. I thought the RI State government was losing money this year. According to this ProJo piece, I’m left to conclude that the General Assembly believes in deficit spending (H/T Dan Yorke for reminding me!) : At a time when financial constraints have forced other arms of state government to talk about widespread layoffs, the…
Jim Baron writes: …when I heard there was a [MoveOn.org] meeting scheduled at a home in Barrington last week, I thought I would sit in and see what it was all about. The meeting, replicated in living rooms all over the country on the same night — the national MoveOn organization claims 7,000 people at…
The ProJo reports: Federal terrorism officials and Rhode Island authorities converged this week to arrest an Indian citizen enrolled in a Smithfield tractor-trailer training school who was trying to obtain a commercial driver’s license and permit to haul hazardous materials. The man, Mohammed Yusef Mullawala, of Jamaica, N.Y., is being held in federal custody for…
For those so inclined, I’ve put up a longish piece (WARNING: excessive scholarliness may induce drowsiness) over at Spinning Clio that touches on Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and conspiracies about each. (Though it is mostly about debunking the Pearl Harbor conspiracies.)
OK, I’ll admit that I’m glad that there is a smoking ban in restaurants (though bars…I’m not so sure), but NY City is taking this too far. Banning trans-fats? …New York has planted a flag on what could be the next front in community health wars. It is becoming the first city in the country…
I just discovered that the leaders of the union to which I once belonged were indicted under RICO in September and that their trial is underway. Michael and Robert McKay have been living on borrowed time. Respectively, president and treasurer-secretary of the American Maritime Officers, the McKay brothers, aged 59 and 56, rigged elections, stole…
The U.N. insiders who organized Stopbolton.org are pretty happy that their target has resigned. As Jim Barron’s indicates, there can be little doubt that Senator Chafee’s refusal to support the nomination of John Bolton to the U.N. was the unsurmountable hurdle. And that is something of which Chafee is quite proud: Chafee’s opposition to Bolton…