Monique Chartier

You Guessed It: All of this Snow and Cold is Due to Global Warming

By Monique Chartier | December 26, 2010 |

… so says Judah Cohen, the director of seasonal forecasting at an unspecified atmospheric and environmental research firm, in an article in today’s New York Times. Strangely missing from the article – as from so many articles advocating AGW – are some important points: 1.) the paltriness – 6% – of man’s contribution to greenhouse…

So Nina Totenberg Thought She Was Saying a Nine-Letter Word

By Monique Chartier | December 21, 2010 |

… when she said this? And I was at — forgive the expression — a Christmas party at the Department of Justice and … Interestingly, her comment did not make the final version of the weekend’s Inside Washington broadcasted by NPR. It’s not clear, though, whether this edit was made simply for the sake of…

Invitees to Gov-Elect Chafee’s Budget Summit

By Monique Chartier | December 15, 2010 |

List courtesy WPRI’s Ted Nesi. The summit takes place this Friday at RI College; Nesi provides schedule and format details here. John Simmons, Executive Director, Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council Robert Flanders Jr., Chairman of the Board of Regents Ray M. Di Pasquale, Commissioner of Higher Education Elizabeth Roberts, Lieutenant Governor (tentative) Anne Nolan, President…

Rhode Island Once Again Makes the Wrong End of a National Ranking. But This Time, Who Can Blame Us?

By Monique Chartier | December 13, 2010 |

Between the bad roads and the bad politics, no wonder: The study says about 30 million Americans admit to driving drunk every year, according to a new federal study, and 10 million say they drove while impaired by illicit drugs. Remarkably, those numbers are down from about five years ago. Rhode Island was found to…

Charlie Hall on a Critical Question Raised During One of the Gov Candidates’ Debate

By Monique Chartier | December 12, 2010 |

The delay in bringing this “coverage” to your attention was engendered entirely by myself and not by the estimable Mr. Hall, whose observations are invariably timely. I somehow missed a batch of his work from last month and this one was too fun important not to highlight. Courtesy Ocean State Follies

Persuasion by Proxy President

By Monique Chartier | December 12, 2010 |

Despite a day that was keeping me on the jump Friday, I got to listen to Fred Thompson at the moment when, in his low key way, he was suggesting a more conciliatory way (in contrast with the approach taken by President Obama) that the president could have presented the unemployment-bennies-for-tax-rate-extension compromise legislation. Such an…

More of the Same (Documents)? WikiLeaks Quizzical Counter-Attack

By Monique Chartier | December 5, 2010 |

In the wake of its most recent release of US classified documents, WikiLeaks lost its domain name (though the website is still accessible via its IP address), Amazon kicked it off their cloud servicer and WikiLeaks lost a cash flow source when Paypal discontinued its account. Meanwhile, Sweden’s highest court cleared the way for the…

But What About the Other Campaign Promises of Gov-Elect Chafee?

By Monique Chartier | December 3, 2010 |

Governor-Elect Chafee has declined to reconsider his decision to rescind Governor Carcieri’s Executive Order 08-01 (pdf) on the grounds that he cannot back away from a promise that he made during the campaign. After looking over some of Mr. Chafee’s other campaign promises, I’m excited to hear this – at least, his grounds for doing…

Spin, Not Denial: Walsh on the Leidecker Charge

By Monique Chartier | December 2, 2010 |

Bob Walsh, Executive Director of the NEA RI, whom we all wish a speedy recovery from his procedure today, called in to the WPRO Dan Yorke Show yesterday morning. After clarifying that his “medical leave” involved a previously scheduled surgery and not a ploy to distract from the NEA’s travails, he went on to address…

NEA RI Official Busted for Campaign Dirty Tricks

By Monique Chartier | November 30, 2010 |

NEA RI Assistant Executive Director John Leidecker was arrested this morning by Bristol and RI State Police accused of the online impersonation of Bristol State Representative Doug Gablinske. Mr. Leidecker, who holds a law degree from Roger Williams University School of Law [edit] and is a practicing attorney, allegedly sent phony e-mails to constituents using…