Rhode Island Culture
House Speaker William Murphy, filling in today 10-21 for Buddy Cianci on WPRO, will not be taking calls, at least for the first couple of hours. Instead, he has indicated a desire to focus on some of the good things in and about Rhode Island. Here, then, is the running list. Let me know if…
Alright. Let’s go ahead and argue about the study that found even more lists on which to put Rhode Island at the wrong end, such as neurosicness and disagreeableness: Led by scientist Peter J. Rentfrow of the University of Cambridge, England, the researchers ranked the states and the District of Columbia in each of the…
Still talking about ‘Plantations’: Supporters of a plan that would give voters in next year’s general election the opportunity to strike the phrase “and Providence Plantations” from the state’s formal name, launched a public awareness and education campaign Wednesday….Backers say there is much work to be done if they are to persuade Rhode Island voters…
Being neither a native nor a linguistic pro forma traditionalist, I’m in the “who cares” camp when it comes to the excision of the word “plantations” in the official full name of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The change would affirm a detrimental and immature impulse that’s pervasive in modern society and should, itself, be…
University of Rhode Island Women’s Studies Professor Donna Hughes is pessimistic about the likelihood that Rhode Island will decline to correct its permission of prostitution: AFTER MY EXPERIENCE at the Senate Judiciary Committee last Thursday, I believe Rhode Island is headed for a human rights disaster and nationwide political embarrassment. It is becoming apparent that…
Andrew presented the question, in studio with Matt Allen last night, about whether Rhode Islanders believe that their state must always be at the wrong end of every list (especially those that are economic in nature). Stream by clicking here, or download it.
The sun shone throughout the morning on Saturday, and it cast a timeless spring-in-the-city atmosphere across the neighborhood of Brown University where I was modifying a new door — manufactured with modern materials and recent engineering — to fit a very old opening. A carpenter can do just about anything with an old door. When…
Self-described newcomer to local politics, Brian Gough, has a letter on the Sakonnet Times Web site criticizing reformers’ efforts. Individuals’ understanding of the appropriate actions of elected representatives, particularly those in leadership roles, may vary, and differences of opinion aren’t necessarily worth the expenditure of much heat. But Mr. Gough’s snap assessment of the sides…
Our state is in dire financial trouble based on structural deficits, is on the wrong end of just about every state-by-state comparative list, and is losing its “productive class” by the thousands every year, but the matter of concern for a special legislative commission is, in the words of its Co-chairman Sen. James Doyle (D.,…
We’ve been remarking on the seemingly unconscionable inability of our General Assembly to close the indoor prostitution loophole (here, here, here) for a while now. The ProJo has editorialized about it and offered a fine investigative piece about it. As I wrote in 2007, “Rep. Joanne M. Giannini…has done yeoman’s work in presenting a comprehensive…
