Monique Chartier

Just Say No to Ethanol

By Monique Chartier | April 28, 2008 |

From a New York Times editorial almost two months ago: The world’s food situation is bleak, and shortsighted policies in the United States and other wealthy countries — which are diverting crops to environmentally dubious biofuels — bear much of the blame. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the price of wheat…

National Day of Silence

By Monique Chartier | April 26, 2008 |

Yesterday, students across the U.S. and in Rhode Island participated in National Day of Silence, taking an oath of silence for a day or part of a day to bring attention to the harassment of gays and lesbians. From the Providence Journal: … at least 29 public and private high schools participated in Rhode Island.…

Re: Green Gingrich (& Global Warming Generally)

By Monique Chartier | April 24, 2008 |

That Newt Gingrich’s participation in the discussion on anthropogenic global warming has taken this form is disappointing. By appearing in an ad with US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and looking around for solutions (even market based ones), Gingrich has lent his credibility to the erroneous propositions that 1.) man has caused this phenomenon and 2.)…

Early Hearing: Early Death or Fast Rubberstamp?

By Monique Chartier | April 23, 2008 |

The following bills were scheduled to be heard by the House Finance Committee today at 1:00 pm instead of late afternoon at the Rise of the House. House Bill No. 7791 BY Moffitt, Mumford, Story, Singleton, Loughlin ENTITLED, AN ACT RELATING TO HUMAN SERVICES — PUBLIC ASSISTANCE {LC2210} (require the department of human services to…

Camille Paglia is not Swayed by Hillary’s Gender

By Monique Chartier | April 21, 2008 |

Camille Paglia writes in yesterday’s Telegraph: All women, on pain of excommunication from the feminist claque, must now support Hillary. Never mind her spotty record or her naked political expediency. Any woman with the temerity to endorse Barack Obama (as I do) is condemned as a “traitor” to her sex. “Gender is probably the most…

China and the Olympic Spirit

By Monique Chartier | April 20, 2008 |

My grimly favorite reaction to the protests which dogged the Olympic flame through London, Paris and other cities was by a Beijing Olympic official, curiously not named in this government sanctioned article, who said that the protests “blasphemed the Olympic spirit.” The irony that the actions of the goons and thugs who have ruled China…

More Truth-Challenged Arguments

By Monique Chartier | April 20, 2008 |

Candidates and advocates are told to stay on message. Such advice is sound only if the “message” contains a modicum of truthfulness or at least believability. Both of these qualities have been noticeably absent from the speeches and rhetoric of those who oppose the Governor’s executive order on illegal immigration and related bills. Friday’s rally…

A Custody Battle in Texas

By Monique Chartier | April 18, 2008 |

The custody hearing over the 416 children removed from the polygamist sect by the State of Texas got off to a hectic start. A court hearing to decide the fates of hundreds of children seized from a polygamist retreat was off to a chaotic start Thursday as hundreds of lawyers in two different locations demanded…

Job Performance Evaluation of the R.I. Attorney General

By Monique Chartier | April 17, 2008 |

In a letter to the Providence Journal, Mr. Dennis Odell of Smithfield gives him a “U” for Unsatisfactory. The other week, Rhode Island Atty. Gen. Patrick Lynch publicly opposed an offshore LNG terminal (“Lynch blasts LNG plan,” April 3). What does this have to do with law enforcement? Last month he supported Sen. Barack Obama…

Senator Alves’ Latest Corporate Tax Proposal

By Monique Chartier | April 16, 2008 |

Senator Stephen Alves (D – West Warwick) has proposed a graduated tax on gross corporate revenue. Moving swiftly (because, obviously, Senator Alves did also) past Rhode Island’s already repellent corporate tax climate and the fact that the budget crisis will not be solved by raising taxes of any sort, by the senator’s own numbers, a…