Bring Back Bob Beaver!

Back on December 10, 2009, the editorial board of the Newport Daily News decided to commemorate the 2009 Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen by inviting Robert A. Beaver, an amusingly-named right-wing conspiracy theorist, to pen a guest editorial explaining to their readers that there was no such thing as global warming, and that the whole thing was a hoax cooked up by a bunch of greedy climate scientists.

Well, you can imagine my astonishment when I opened up today's copy of the Daily Snooze to find an AP article titled "Coast Guard pushes to guard U.S. claims in remote Arctic sea" with the following opening graf:

The ice-choked reaches of the northern Arctic Ocean aren't widely perceived as an international shipping route. But global warming is bringing vast change, and Russia, for one, is making an aggressive push to establish top of the world sea lanes.

The gist of the article is that the Russians are taking advantage of receding Arctic sea ice to send cargo ships straight across the Arctic Ocean, and that the U.S. Coast Guard is gearing up to "secure U.S. claims and prepare for increased human activity." But what I want to know is, where is Bob Beaver?

I think that, in their quest for fairness and balance, and their desire to present all points of view, it is incumbent on the editors of the NDN to invite Bob Beaver back to their editorial page to explain to the paper's readers that, no, the Russians aren't really sending shipping across the Arctic Ocean, the Coast Guard isn't asking for more resources to deal with the increased activity, and that this is all just part of the hoax being perpetrated by those greedy scientists.

Bring back Bob Beaver!

Kathleen Parker Demonstrates Her Lack of Shame

Today's Newport Daily News has its weekly column by Washington Post conservative columnist Kathleen "K-Pax" Parker. Today K-Pax chooses to highlight Red China's repressive policy of forcing women to have abortions. K-Pax is very careful to point out that "On this much, both sides of the abortion issue can agree: Forced abortion is not a choice." She is even more careful to avoid stating the obvious corollary: Forced pregnancy is not a choice, either, but she and her fellow conservatives support it.

Is K-Pax honestly concerned about women in China? If she were, she could have simply stated the facts and voiced her opinion. Instead, she goes out of her way to sneer at Planned Parenthood and NARAL for not being as concerned as she is. That's why she wrote this column; not to draw attention to an injustice, but to use that injustice to score political points against liberals. It's cheap political grandstanding cloaked in sanctimony. K-Pax ought to be ashamed, but of course, being a conservative, she's not.

NDN- "Wrong-Headed?"

There is an interesting online article by Jim Brady, former exec editor of the "Washington Post" entitled, "Why A New (And Unusual) Pricing Strategy By A Rhode Island Paper Will Fail." The title kind of says it all.

While praising the local rag (NDN) for at least trying a unique strategy to increase their income, "But to me, this model reeks of desperation. It’s as if, having used all of its bullets in the battle to preserve print revenue, Newport has now decided to throw its gun at the problem.

He points out that you can obtain local news on the web for zilch from a number of sites, including yours truly.

"In my view, young readers today aren’t anti-newspaper; they’re pro-web. Now, they can get deep, detailed information on any topic they choose. They can get a variety of views on issues that matter to them. They can find and interact with people who share their interests and/or ideologies. They can engage in direct discussions with journalists and newsmakers alike. And they can get it all whenever and however they want it. Young people don’t rely on the web for news because it’s free. They rely on the web because, collectively, it provides them with a better, more personalized experience than they could ever get from a one-size-fits-all daily newspaper. Add in the environmental concerns that many now have with the physical newspaper, and it’s easy to see why newspapers are in the trouble they’re in."

He's hit the nail on the head; and it's not just those young readers either. If ever there was a time for the NDN to develop a strong online presence, this be the time. Or someone else will beat them to it & leave them nowhere else to go in the future. Will their new strategy be a sucess? Yup, they'll say that it is. But down the road.... And I want them to suceed.

"To me, this strategy is even worse than a Hail Mary pass: It’s a Hail Mary pass that, even if completed, still leaves you on your own 20 yard line."

And where did I initially find this out- online, of course. http://www.newport-now.com/

Online NDN Does NOT Want Your Business

Newport Daily News: Charging for news online from Nieman Journalism Lab on Vimeo.

or: Bucky Sherman Speaks! Well, you likely new that he did, but never heard him. Also featured is Managing Editor (?) Sheila Mullowney; although, I believe her working title is "Daily News Goddess." LOL!

Ah-h, all part of their nefarious plan to get your to buy newspapers, evidenced by their recent online appearance (NDN). Force them to NOT PURCHASE the online edition and they will come. Sounds strange to me but a lot of people, esp. other papers, are watching.

Thanks to Nieman for the video & article. They are expecting to follow-up at summer's end & in the Fall.

What will be the result of all this hoopla? Probably nothing. But I think that's their hope & people will stop annoying them asking for online news. If subscriptions drop- interesting. If online works- amazing. If nothing- still somewhat interesting, I guess. Fortunately, I don't own the paper.

Online pricing beings Monday.

NDN Online

My friend, John at Hard Deadlines, wrote an excellent review of their new pay online edition. As of yet, in their use of online resources, they just don't "get it." They've also deep-sixed reporter Joe Baker's political blog which was never really given a change at sucess. What a waste of a good local reporter. Some simple pointers on Internet blogging could have helped here. Don't they ... like ... read?

Lord knows that I'm no expert at this stuff, but even I know that I could give better advice than they seem to have used. In their online edition, they eliminated what makes online interesting & relevant. It's just the print edition in a format that is often difficult to use (like article continuation) & "moody" with a number of flaws. In fact, it makes you yearn to hold the print paper in your hands just to simplify things.

Now that the free time is up, I'm wondering exactly what will be online without paying? Have they actually attracted any new subsribers? What made the little that they previously offered even mildly interesting to me was the "comments" section & now it's gone. I used to be able to link to their articles. Meanwhile, Eastbay Newspapers just keeps getting better & better- and it's free! Projo is also well-done offering print & extra video content along with smaller blogs like Sheila Lennon's catch-all.

NDN keeps trying to put the information genie back into the print edition. If you want me to pay for my news, you need to offer me what I can't find elsewhere and at a reasonable price. Otherwise, I'll continue to do what I do now- buy the paper (sometimes), use the library, talk to people, read Projo (online & print), and find what I'm interested in online- for nothing.

So will I pay for the online edition that you are offering? No. Why pay for mostly features, ads, &, announcements with much of the actual news from agencies (the same argument I have with the print edition)? Why would I pay extra so that I could print-out coupons? And I now realize from John's "Comments" that you can only use it on 3 IEP's. So, I'm already done in. Forget using it if I travel. In my home there are 3 computers- 2 laptops & one big, old system.

So read John's review. He's right on the money with this one. So sad, I really wanted it to succeed just as I do the the paper, so why do they keep on foot-shooting and how many extra feet have they got to spare? Local news. That's what I want. And funnies. That's what I'm willing to pay for. Local news with some State content. The other stuff is easy to get- free. Heck, John & I give it away- with video (plus pithy commentary) and open comments- no name required.

Newport Daily News Online!

They've taken the entire print edition & copied each page. You can view it that way (and go blind) or see it in an easier to read format. You can also vew ads, announcements, etc. Pics are also there. It's also searchable with a LOT of unneeded directions. But they're new at this.

I liked it.

But then there's the cost. I don't get it. Online is $5/day or $10/wk. Home delivery is close to that price (well, a LOT cheaper by the day). Huh? They actually blame their current, extremely abbreviated online edition for dropping subscriber numbers. Au contraire, mon ami. Perhaps it had something to do with- like why people actually read papers- CONTENT. Combine the delivered paper with online for $10/month.

It will be interesting to see how they fare here. Over the years their online presence has changed considerably, but always behind the times. Now they are trying to jump ahead, but at considerable cost to the consumer without a whole lot of benefits that I can see. But I'm frequently wrong anyway. So it's free for a week.

The daily cost at the newsstand: 50 cents on weekdays and 75 cents for the Weekend edition. Home delivery: $14 per month, $40 for three months, $75 for six months or $145 for a year. The next level — the combined home delivery-online option — will cost $25 for a month, $70 for three months, $130 for six months or $245 for a year subscription, or about 80 cents a day. For those who prefer the online-only option, the cost will be $5 for a day, $10 for a week, $35 for a month, $100 for three months, $180 for six months and $345 for a year. puts it well here.

Sheila Lennon at Projo "gets it" and has this suggestion: "There has always been yet another alternative -- revamp outdated advertising systems to permit instant (impulse) purchases of products featured in Web ads, perhaps at a discount. The hosting news org gets a percentage of each sale: Passive revenue, and all the demographic data a site could wish to target, would accrue."

Sorry, it's difficult to feel sorry for newspaper owners. For years they were extremely profitable- that's why the locals live on Indian Ave. Then they adopted Wall St. models and were gobbled up. High profits with little actual reporting. Customers left and went elsewhere. A reporter puts it well in today's Projo.

Well, at least they're trying. I wish them well. I want them to succeed.

Captain Mike Laid Bare

I'm speaking figuratively, of course (darn!). You've heard my co-writer, Tom, expound on the "Guest Opinion" articles published in the NDN on numerous occasions and I'm surprised he hasn't written on the newest- NOT an opinion; but rather, a letter: "Specter's defection puts us at mercy of Democrats." (sorry, no link except for http://www.newportdailynews.com/)


It's going to be hard to place any more of his rantings under the auspices of an "expert" after this diatribe, "So now we have America on the verge of one-party rule at the hands of the most radical, leftist collection of liberal Democratic socialist ever to walk the halls of Congress." LOL! Aha, the worm, as my mother would say, has turned. Boo-hoo.


The good Middletown Captain worries that his [Republican] soul has been sold. He also knocks R.I'er Chafee for defection to the "politically ignorant."


OR, maybe they've been blessed and "seen the light?" Ah, Captain, no bio or title after your name. Who's the radical now? Yeah, expert. Forget any baloney about even attempting to be objective. Thanks, Daily News. Too bad this malarkey (I'm being nice here) never got printed and opined first. Kinda puts to rest any former "factual" info in his former tirades. Heck, I think the NDN SHOULD have placed it under their "Guest" articles with the appropriate background bio. Then we'd all realize that while you can sometimes disguise crap as a rose, it still smells.


I'm still laughing. Tom, this one's for you!

Cap'n Mike Cries "Mercy"

What's this I see in the weekend edition of the NDN? Why, it's a LTE from our favorite right-wing corporate jet pilot, Middletown's own Warren "Cap'n Mike" Caldwell! Cap'n Mike, it seems, is all hot n' bothered about Arlen Specter's switch from God's Own Party to those eeeeeevil, socialistic Democrats, as is indicated by the title the paper assigned his letter, "Specter's defection puts us at mercy of Democrats."

Cap'n Mike starts things off with a bang, demanding to know "how much?" i.e. "What was the price you commanded from the Democrats, and how much were they willing to pay for your defection, Mr. Specter?" It would be awful to suggest that Cap'n Mike expects the answer to be "Thirty pieces of silver, just like that other dirty Jew," so I'm not going to suggest it. Instead, I will simply note that despite rumors that Pennsylvania Democratic boss Ed Rendell would be pulling strings to let Specter run unopposed in the Democratic primary, Specter said on Meet the Press this morning that he was offered no incentives from Democrats to switch parties, and that he did expect to face a Democratic primary challenge next year.

But the meat of Cap'n Mike's rant is his fretting that with Specter joining the Dems, America is "on the verge of one-party rule at the hands of the most radical, leftist collection of liberal Democratic socialists ever to walk the halls of Congress." Well, I'd like to reassure Cap'n Mike that he's wrong, that the party of Ben Nelson, Tom Carper, and Evan Bayh is nowhere near as radical as, for example, the party that passed all those New Deal programs back in the 1930s.

I'd like to do that, but I can't.

The plain fact of the matter is, Cap'n Mike is right. Nelson, Carper, Bayh, Steny Hoyer, Dianne Feinstein, Joe Lieberman, and all those other alleged moderates were just putting on an act. Speaking as someone on the secret ACORN payroll who was personally responsible for recruiting hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to flood North Carolina and Virginia with fraudulent votes, I have to admit that Cap'n Mike is right on the money.

I happen to know that President Obama is planning to appoint none other than ex-Weatherman Bill Ayers to the newly-created position of Secretary for the Department of Rounding Up and Liquidation of Class Enemies. Secretary Ayers will also be responsible for nationalizing all industries and outlawing private property. The President himself will openly admit to being a Muslim and will suspend the Constitution in favor of Sharia Law. Representative Barney Frank will be crafting legislation that will not only make gay marriage mandatory, but will outlaw heterosexuality itself! All women will be required to undergo in-vitro fertilization just so that the resulting babies can be aborted and harvested for stem cells. Oh, and say hello to the newest member of the U.S. Supreme Court: Jane Fonda!

Finally, I'd like to assure Cap'n Mike that he hasn't been forgotten. As a major figure in the Vast Islamohomosocialist Conspiracy, I'll be personally seeing to it that Cap'n Mike is gay married to the secret leader of the Democratic Party himself, Osama bin Laden. Enjoy your honeymoon, Cap'n Mike!

UPDATE: Whoa! Great minds think alike! Hello, Eileen, nice post!

Robberies Up in Newport

You won't read these stats in the daily snooze's police and fire reports. Why not? I guess that it's not good for business. Just like you rarely read anything on poverty, homelessness, lack of health insurance, mental health problems, foreclosures, empty apartments, long-time businesses disappearing, or divorces. They just don't buy ads or sell newspapers. At least, that's why I assume that they believe.

Gossip is that it's a crim spree in Newport with robberies & car thefts which our local rag does not bother to print in its police report. Do NOT leave your car keys in your car- insurance may well not cover it then. Lock your car; esp. in the evening. Businesses and homes are all feeling the increased rate of break-in's. I know that letters have been written to the newspaper complaining about their lack of coverage herein, but- zip. So please, as they keep requesting, write, write, write; but, only certain topics allowed

But they are interested in covering alcohol and drug related crimes. Hmmm, makes you think.

Newspapers constantly blame US for not buying them; rather than claim culpability here. Things that drew me to newspapers have been guillotined right off their pages- recipes, investigative articles, book reviews, etc. Sports? Sacred. Kids? Nice to see the recent addition of comics. Best in color, thought, and LARGE enough to actually read. Connect yourself with online resources rather than ignoring them. Newspapers made large profits for many over a number of years. Profits required less news coverage. They are now reaping those profits. Not much sympathy from me; although I do believe that the loss of each newspaper or its downgrading translates as some democracy loss for all of us.

Official Notification of Craziness

To the editors of the Newport Daily News,

As a regular publisher of the cartoons of Mr. Robert Ariail, formerly of the Charleston, S.C. The State, you are being notified that Mr. Ariail's use of the word "socialism" to describe President Obama's economic policies (see cartoon published your paper 15 April 2009) entitles him to receive official designation as a Crazy Right-Winger(TM).

As an officially designated Crazy Right-Winger(TM), Mr. Ariail is entitled to the following benefits: 1) unpaid fellowship with the Heritage Foundation; 2) fortnightly guest appearance on the Fox News Channel show of his choice; and 3) hosting rights to a FNC Tea Party(TM) in any American city with a population of one million or less.

In future, we would appreciate it if you could indicate Mr. Ariail's status as an officially designated Crazy Right-Winger(TM) when publishing his work in your newspaper.

Yours truly,

Thomas Kalinowski
Director of Public Relations
National Center for the Investigation of Craziness

Middletown Senior Center Problems are Political

I'd give you the NDN source, but they are no longer posting many of their articles (beyond intro paragraphs). You've got to buy (or not)! The article by Matt Sheley covers my recent complaints regarding the Senior Center's ignoring Open Meeting Laws since they were put into effect. I detailed Eileen's Excellent Adventure into the Senior Center in my recent articles.

This from Senior Center Director Kaull "...we do what we're supposed to with the secretary of state... To me , this is political and ridiculous. There are more imporant things to worry about." And then, "No one here is trying to evade the letter of the law or anything like that..." No, they're not actually trying to do that- it just comes naturally. Political. Hmm. Isn't that how the Director got her job or am I not supposed to say that?

Yes, I was home alone for a few weeks, recovering from surgery, trying to figure out a way to "get" Senior Center Director because... I'm "playing politics and trying to stir up trouble where it doesn't exist." Poor, poor, pitiful me. Actually, I thought that I was being rather nice about the whole thing. I could have filed a complaint with the Attorney General... and may still.

So I jumped into my handy-dandy time machine and set it to go back in time a few years ago. I made her do things to decrease center membership, forced her to run the center from a personal checkbook, and encouraged her to add $ to the center budget.

Then I came back in time, hacked into the Sec. of St. website (clever me), and changed all their filings. I also was able to use mind control and change the memories of all center board members. Now if I could only change our stock portfolio...

What a woman! And I did all of this while taking dopey pills. Imagine if I had actually been alert & well.

No, it's not a grudge match. I don't believe in vengeance, nor do I actively practice hating anyone. Life is too short (and too much fun) for that. It also makes for facial wrinkles. I have nothing personal against her. As a matter-of-fact, she can be quite entertaining & fun. Is this all political? In the sense that it does have to do with government- yes, it is. I've been interested & involved in politics all my life. One of my earliest memories (I was 4) is when I was lifted onto my Dad's shoulder to see/listen to candidate Adlai Stevenson on a whistlestop (remember, my Dad was a r.r. man) in 1954.

Nope, no grudge, but not afraid either. Comes from having a Portuguese mom & Irish father. Ours was NOT a quiet household.

So send that fish my way- Friday would be good. LOL!

Why We Fight

A couple weeks ago, I posted a rebuttal to Captain "Mike" Caldwell's latest guest editorial in the Newport Daily News, in which, among other things, I alluded to Eileen's questions about whether Cap'n "Mike" was a real person. In comments, Eileen pointed out that Cap'n "Mike" is actually named Warren, which was why she couldn't find any public information about him before.

Also in comments was one by Bill Gauch of the Rhode Island Review Blog. Along with the standard right-wing talking points about the ARRA, Bill asked an interesting question: "If you know (or strongly believe) that this guy is either a crack-pot or make believe, why bother to respond here or in the paper?" That question, at least, merited a reasoned response, so this is it.

The answer is that even if Cap'n "Mike" wasn't a real person, the opinions he expresses are shared by a lot of people (including Bill Gauch). That makes it worth my while to respond, because right-wing talking points should never be allowed to go unanswered, no matter the source.

For instance, take my response to last year's Cap'n "Mike" two-part epic, in which Our Captain bashes Anderson Cooper for playing a videotape of Iraqi insurgents killing American troops. The roots of Cap'n "Mike"s fauxtrage go back to the 1960s, when another president from Texas got the United States stuck in another overseas military quagmire through another act of blatant dishonesty. Back then, it was LBJ using the Gulf of Tonkin Incident to justify sending American combat troops into South Vietnam. The Vietnam War was a bit of Cold War madness that was marked by nonstop misinformation and disinformation by the Johnson administration and the Pentagon, so it's no surprise that there was a lot of opposition to the war, especially as American casualties mounted and it became clear that the government was lying its collective ass off about the whole thing.

However, what conservatives like Cap'n "Mike" took from the Vietnam War was the odd conviction that if the TV networks hadn't broadcast images of the fighting, and of American casualties, everything would have been all right. They decided that the only way to prevent the public from opposing military action was to keep the public as ignorant as possible. That was the rationale behind the Poppy administration's tight control over information during the Noriega takedown and the Persian Gulf War, and the Dubya administration's equally tight restrictions on media coverage of the Iraq War (such as the policy prohibiting the display of images of flag-draped coffins). This is also the reason why Cap'n "Mike" and his fellow conservatives scream like angry babies whenever the media manages to show the public things like dead bodies, especially dead American bodies. And this is the reason Cap'n "Mike" accused Anderson Cooper of destroying America's cultural soul.

It would have been irresponsible of me to let Cap'n "Mike"s ridiculous and ahistorial World War 2 analogy to go unanswered, and it would have been equally irresponsible to let him get away with pretending that his own fake outrage over realistic war coverage was shared by the general public.

Finally, I would be remiss if I failed to point out to Cap'n "Mike" and his fellow conservatives that the Iraq War disproves their thesis that "negative" (ie realistic) media converage of combat drives public disapproval. The media has largely (and cravenly) knuckled under to government pressure to whitewash the Iraq War, but the public turned against the war anyway. And the reason they turned against the Iraq War was the real reason they turned against the Vietnam War: because it was an unnecessary war based on lies, and people naturally dislike that sort of thing.

Anyway, I hope this answers Bill Gauch's question about why I bother to respond to a possibly imaginary right-wing-talking-point-spewing person. However imaginary the person, the talking points are very real and malignant, and must be countered.

Cap'n Mike versus the Porkulus

Cap'n Mike Caldwell, the possibly mythical Middletown corporate jet pilot and spewer of right-wing talking points, is back in the pages of the Newport Daily News. The fact that he was discovered to be using fake quotes culled from right-wing chain emails to attack House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama hasn't kept him from vomiting forth more of his worthless opinions, nor has it kept the NDN from printing them.

Tuesday saw another warm, steaming pile of wingnuttery deposited on the paper's op-ed page under the title "Stimulus bill avoids hard choices." I won't bother with a line-by-line rebuttal this time, because Cap'n Mike drivel just isn't worth it. Instead, I'll provide the text of my emailed response to the paper. I'll let you know if they print it.

In his Guest View piece on March 3, "Stimulus bill avoids hard choices," Captain Mike Caldwell spends a lot of time worrying that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan (which he refers to simply as "the $787 billion spending package") has "no clear direction, no feedback mechanism, no system and no means to determine or measure success or failure" of its "ostensible objectives." As such, says Capt. Caldwell, "no hard choices need be made regarding either cuts in government spending or distinguishing among key economic determinants or programs."

If I were a cynical man, I might think that Capt. Caldwell was engaging in mere partisan sniping, since his worries about hard choices being left unmade would have been more timely a few years ago, when President George W. Bush and his Republican allies in Congress were spending money like drunken sailors. But I am a stranger to cynicism, so I will assume that Capt. Caldwell actually wrote this piece in 2004 or so, and mislaid it, and only recently found it again, and decided to have it published after updating the names.

If that is the case, then I salute Capt. Caldwell for his wise words. President Bush did indeed defer hard choices, and the result has indeed been, as Capt. Caldwell presciently says, "a recipe for disaster." I only wish Capt. Caldwell hadn't mislaid his wise words, so he could have delivered them five years ago when they actually needed to be said.

UPDATE: Well, they printed it in the weekend edition, but it was overshadowed by a longer, better letter by Thomas R. Beall of Middletown.

Newport Mayor Shot Down

Yes, I'm a tad behind the times, but at least I have an excuse. Mayor Napolitano had a resolution on the Counil's agenda Feb. 11 ago in support of 3 of the Guv's ideas regarding his supplemental budget. In it she (and others) offered support for: "proposals by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri to require all public employees in the state to pay 25 percent of their health insurance costs, lift minimum staffing requirements for the police and fire departments, and streamlining the arbitration process for firefighters."

Why did the Democratic Mayor support the suggestions of the Republican Carcieri? Yup, it's definitely unusual. From the NDN: "She said the city is facing a $5 million to $6 million deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and that 80 percent of the city’s overall costs are for personnel." (NDN) Well, duh. Silly her. Trying to save $. And imagine thinking that the other Councilors who signed it would actually back her up (Duncan, Leonard, Connelly, & Coyne).

It is worth noting that currently only teachers pay 10.5% for their healthcare. It is also striking that firefighters are currently in arbitration for- 2006. "“To solve these problems, we have to come together,” Napolitano said. “I don’t think the entire burden should be on the backs of homeowners. I also don’t think the entire burden should be on the backs of city employees.”

Now, surprise, surprise, 150 Union backers showed up to protest their loss of bargaining rights. Seeing this, except for Napolitano, all Councilorssupporting the resolution caved. Umm, guess they didn't know what it actually, like, meant? They were shocked that there was opposition? They were, hmm, confused?

Not exactly a moment of courage here. But wait, there's more. Councilor McLaughlin who had NOT signed on to the Resolution and, in fact, opposed it, offered the Mayor her only support," ...who thanked Napolitano for putting the resolution on the agenda. Unlike the federal government, the city must balance its budget, he said." It's always good to know who your friends are. Two people of courage, no matter what you may think of the Resolution itself.

And then it gets even more & more interesting. Former Mayor, now Councilor Waluk, deep-sixed the whole matter. He refused to participate: "because he is a public employee who has a financial interest in the outcome of the proposals. He is a policy analyst in the Rhode Island House of Representatives. " Sound like an easy out? Smelly? Let's pick this apart.

Waluk doesn't stand to lose or gain anymore than any other public employee, right? So the "conflict" laws don't really apply to him. He's also not a member of the Lege who actually gets to decide on State Laws which this resolution is proposing to change. So he couldn't actually vote on changing the laws anyway. Doesn't sound like a conflict to me.

So what's up here? Hmm, I could even have lived with this. But then, then the NDN ran their "Jeers & Cheers" and gave him the old virtual tip-of-the-hat for... "In all fairness, Councilman Stephen C. Waluk recused himself because, as a policy analyst for the state House of Representatives, he is a public employee." (NDN) Hello, Hello, what happened to actual fact-checking? You accept this so easily? Why? He didn't even have an "official" opinion from the Board of Elections. It's not like he couldn't spare the time to go to Prov. to actually get one since he works there! It's things like this that make readers turn away. Why give him such a quick & easy pass on such an obviously difficult topic? Why?

The resolution is supposed to be on the agenda again for their next meeting. Wanna bet? So now you know who has courage & who is somewhat challenged.

Thanks to Sean Flynn at the NDN. Sorry, you can't actually read the articles which I refer to without $. And also noted, is the down-grading of the NDN website. Hard to believe that it could be less than what it was, but there it is.

NDN Updates

They ran 3 recent who-cares? The stories of: Canole, Gibbs, & Steinbrenner. Gimmeabreak! You wouldn't want to follow-up on anything that was actually, like, y'know, relevant or newsy. Easy articles that the NDN loves- one interview- all done. Takes up lots of space, too. Just like police reports, court reports, etc. Funny, no divorces or bankruptcies though.

What did I learn? I've already written the one on Gibbs. Nice lady. Should have opted to stay home & clean her own house instead of the people's. She's proudest of her 1990-something billboard law. Thanks for nothing. Canole- Former Newport School Sup't. Love all the family members working on the public dime. What? Yours don't too? And the former Newport city manager? Why? It would have been far more interesting if he had dished the dirt (and he certainly could have) rather than run as a promotion for business at Smith Barney. A waste of good reporters to my way of thinking.

At least there wasn't another interview or quotes of Keith Stokes from the Newport Chamber of Commerce. That poor man is used so much by the newspapers that he should just start his own paper or at least be listed as a reporter.




Yeah, public ownership of newspapers. I like the idea as opposed to more bailouts such as the one being discussed in Conn.

Bring Back the Funnies!

No wonder young people don't want to read the newspaper. Projo's comic section has been reduced in size so much that it's almost impossible to read. If it got even one degree smaller, I couldn't see the indivdual strips. I can barely read them now without a lot of concentration.

It's not just the words- it's the pics! They need to be large & in color. Otherwise, what's the point?

When did I begin to read the newspapers? As a kid the "funnies" were part of every newspaper everyday. Now it's once/wk. No wonder young people aren't interested in the paper. The NDN recently has run a decent comic section. More! Is Projo's daily?

It's ironic that newspapers keep mourning their demise & blame everyone & everything but themselves. Many have turned into long ads with an occassional news feature. They've gutted themselves and then speculate as to outside causes. It's much the same with radio & television. Most television & radio stations have turned into ads interspersed with a few features.

ARRRGGGHHHH! We want funnies!

Newspapers on the Decline

Sometimes I just want to scream. Recently Hendrik Hertzberg, a former Jimmy Carter speechwriter & "New Yorker" editor speaking in R.I. commented on how the newspaper industry is falling apart with increasing rapidity. N4N blogger Ian Dennis "asked Hertzberg, how will this affect small-d democracy?

"He responded by saying, 'Bloggers are essentially parasites on the newspaper industry.' While newspaper readership remains high through print and Web sites, Hertzberg noted how the movement of readers to the Internet has undermined the economic model of newspapers (since Web-based advertising is far less profitable)."

"'I suppose something will take its place,' Hertzberg said of newspapers, 'but I don't what it is yet.'"


Well, gee. How long have the Internet & bloggers been around? And we're to blame for the lack of readership & ad revenues? And we don't break news? Au contraire. Newspapers along with legislative changes allowing for big businesses to own multiple media outlets, along with the never-ending search for merges & higher profits along with lousy investments are primarily to blame for their decline. And I won't even begin on the lack of leisure time.

As big corporate media swallowed up radio & t.v. stations, networks, newspapers, & magazines poor business decisions were made. First to go were news departments with staff reporters & researchers. Uhhh, like that's kind of why we used them. Investigational journalism (aka, muckrackers of the "fourth estate") were gone with the wind. Reporters were often straight out of school to keep costs down. Depth, knowledge, and experience were given short-shrift.


Instead we've been subjected to press notices, forums, & entertainment often paraded as "news." Feel-good articles along with high-profile titillation, features, and notices occupy much of what used to be reserved for news. Opinion has given way to all-too few national commenters and the same-old, same-old. Staying "in-the-middle" pretends to be objective & non-partisan but all too often is just the opposite and confusing. Truth isn't always somewhere in the middle.


I have a love-hate relationship with our local paper-of-record- "The Newport Daily News," now that Projo has basically given up on our area. One example is a recent editorial bemoaning the " proposal "that would reduce the state sales tax from 7 percent to 5 percent....This is not genuine tax relief or reform. Instead of playing shell games with our hard-earned money, the state would be better served by taking a cue from the businesses in Rhode Island that are trying to survive by refashioning themselves to be more efficient, more innovative, leaner-and-meaner operations. It is said that in every crisis, there is opportunity. We just hope Rhode Island doesn’t blow this one."


Ahhh, a trifle loose with the facts here. Our state sales tax while it is high at 7% is far more generous in its exemptions than any other state- seventy-nine to be exact. Excluded are clothing & shoes, boats, art, & motion picture purchases, aircraft, and- (ta-dah) newspapers. These are supposed to generate economic benefits to the state and they may well do that, but who knows? Now, I don't like sales' tax either (too regressive). But while the NDN has also bemoaned various cuts made by the lege & guv, it doesn't actually share with us any ideas for increasing revenues.


We can solve our current financial crisis by becoming "leaner and meaner." Yeah, there's the ticket. Wow, whoever would have thought of that idea? Ummm, let's see... how about 6 yrs. ago when Gov. Carcieri promised us "The Big Audit" which would "...go expense by expense through the budget until he [Carcieri] has uncovered every penny of waste and unnecessary expense. He will prepare accurate future estimates for these expenses and programs, so that a true multi year cost picture can be generated. Nobody will leave until as much waste as possible has been squeezed out of each budget."


I guess that's why the newspaper endorsed him for a second term- he just hadn't finished with all that squeezing yet. Thanks for this thoughtful, provocative solution. Government is the problem after all. Hello, haven't you actually been reading anything? Ah, simplistic answers to complex problems. Sometimes bad news is just that- bad news and the cheerful opportunity blah-blah is just so much pablum. I may not be the sharpest pencil in the box, but solving a growing $300 mil deficit with a "straighten up & fly right" solution seems just a bit over-simplified to me.

Ah, and I just can't resist. How about those political endorsements that you make every two years? How are all those working out for you (including Carcieri)? Do you ever wonder why? "...Most members of our editorial board (never mind our reporting staff) couldn’t tell you with 100 percent accuracy who we endorsed in the last election [probably because they would have to pay to access your reports]. While we are totally immersed in the process in the weeks leading up to the election, once it happens, we move on. We’re too busy on a day-to-day basis to be coordinating story placement accordingly. And believe me, we’ve rued the day we made some endorsements. Looking back, we may not always be right, but just like voters, we make the best decisions we can at the time." (NDN )


You know, if I kept making the same mistakes andnever reviewed why, I might have a tad trouble keeping a job, never mind just plain living. Perhaps the NDN is actually part of the problem? If so, then trying to figure out "why" & changing could be a positive action. You endorsed most of the Middletown Council & less than two weeks later hinted at "recall." Gee, you've already forgotten who you endorsed and why? That doesn't actually inspire much confidence on the readers' part. The same thing when you bemoan the cost of government but offer the same old, same old tired phrases as solutions. Is it surprising then that alternative news sources are turned to? And yes, I have noticed recently that Projo & NDN actually use them now AND give credit. Guess we're not always "parasites" after all. Change is hard.

Perhaps it's time to re-think newspapers & have them take the form of non-profits much like public television. Maybe, just maybe, newspapers are something that we have to support to keep our democracy going. A thought... You see, unlike Pres. Bush, I know that an informed electorate requires a free press- whatever form that may take.

URI Tuition Hikes

Tuition: $3,727; Required Fees $ 972; Total $4,699.00 (one term)


Of course, parking (a few hundred$), transportation, food, travel, books (figure $600) are all extra.


A recent Projo column contribution bemoaned the State's seemingly lack of interest in URI. "...20% of all Rhode Island residents with a four year degree graduated from URI." In 1970 the State "funded 50% [and] 11 % now."

More and more programs are being targeted to out-of-staters who pay a tuition of $24,776.

"Labor economist Paul Harrington recently told Governor Carcieri's forum on Rhode Island's ailing economy, 'Education is our pathway to economic prosperity.'"

I've blogged on this many times before. We should also be funding research at URI to use for economic stimulus ideas. Instead, we do the opposite- slash URI funding while cutting income taxes for our wealthiest residents. Some message to our students. More trickle down malarky for our public. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I've decided that I keep asking the wrong question: "How stupid do they think we are?" It should be augmented with: "How stupid are they?" Expecting a part-time lege to come up with better ideas than we do is just that- stupid on both sides. Rep. Jackson (D-Newport, Midd.) hit the nail on the head, “... a part-time legislature is not a nimble and creative entity...” Well said. Really, how nimble & creative are you after a full day of work?

While NDN columnist "Politically Incorrect" Joe Baker was hopeful that early lege House Finance hearings would be a "good start" in addressing budget woes, I'm far less optimistic. Says Joe whose former weekly column of Statehouse activities was deep-sixed last year, "...members of the committee spend countless hours in budget hearings, earning every cent of their $14,000 legislative paycheck." I've been to some of these hearings. They were sparsely attended by committee members. In fact, they just made quorum with the Chair (and others) leaving after department heads spoke. Kinda got the impression that it's all decided beforehand with most members just playacting. When Chair Constantino speaks, you'd best listen. And if the NDN doesn't care what happens at the Statehouse, what chance do the rest of us have in keeping informed? But they don't really matter up in Prov., do they?

Yup, expect more tuition raises like this one which is up from the first term. Expecting your son or daughter to be guaranteed a place at our local university? You'd best rethink this strategy along with affordable costs (don't forget those damn fees). It doesn't even work that well now.

The Pro article was signed by URI professors, students, & alumni. Thanks for writing it.

They printed it!

Those cheeky monkeys at the Newport Daily News actually printed my response to Helen Flynn in today's issue. I had to shorten it a bit to make it fit their LTE word limits, excising my quote from Wikipedia and the paragraph where I accuse Hillary, McCain and Palin of being in on the birth certificate conspiracy, but the heart of the letter is there. All I can say at this point is BWA-HA-HAAAA!

To be sure, there will doubtless be some out there who will take my words literally, and assume that I actually believe there is some doubt about Obama's American citizenship and qualification to be president. That's the price we pay for snark. On the off chance that someone who reads the thing is aware that I blog here, let me make my position plain:

In my LTE, I was engaged in what is known as "mockery". I pretended to agree with Ms. Flynn that Obama's birth certificate might be a forgery, as part of a clever ploy to make sport of her, and those like her. I don't actually believe that Obama was born in Kenya or Indonesia. I do in fact believe that he was born in Hawaii to an American citizen, and that he fully meets the U.S. Constitution's citizenship qualifications for the presidency.

On the other hand, speaking as a proud member of the Democratic Party, I do earnestly hope that Ms. Flynn and her fellow birth certificate crazies follow my bad advice. I hope they raise a big old fuss about the issue, organize themselves, and try to take over the Rhode Island Republican Party, thereby driving the last nail into the coffin of the RI GOP. As an aid to Ms. Flynn, I invite her to view this copy of Obama's real birth certificate, and hope that she and her fellow Concerned Americans broadcast its existence far and wide.

As I said before, go to it, Ms. Flynn, and good luck.

UPDATE: Washington-based writer and veteran broadcast journalist Wes Vernon warns his fellow conservatives that all this birth certificate nonsense threatens to distract people from real stories like the murder of Vince Foster and Saddam Hussein's involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing. No, really.

Concerned citizen is concerned

From the Wingnut Thursday edition of the Newport Daily News, comes, appropriately, the following LTE from Helen F. Flynn of Middletown under the headline "Hillary Clinton and Obama need to answer constitutional questions":

Should we as citizens of the United States be concerned about the questions posed to us daily in the media concerning two constitutional issues? The first question concerns the qualifications under the U.S. Constitution as to who can be president of the United States, namely, "No person except a natural born Citizen, shall be eligible to the Office of President." That is what is clearly stated in Article II, Section 1, Clause 5. Several groups have requested that President-elect Barack Obama produce his original birth certificate (everyone has one) so that everyone can be assured that he is indeed a natural-born citizen, which is different from a naturalized citizen. His original birth certificate showing the place and the physician who signed it would help to end all questions about Obama's natural-born status.

The other question that comes up now and presents a constitutional issue has to do with whether Sen. Hillary Clinton is qualified under constitutional law to be appointed to the job of secretary of state. Article I, Section 6, in regard to compensation, states clearly "No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the emoluments [salary, fees, etc.] whereof shall have been increased during such time." According to information in the press, salaries were increased while Sen. Clinton has been holding office, thus eliminating her candidacy for the post.

These two clauses in the U.S. Constitution were included to protect the country and the candidates. Are Americans supposed to be so stupid that we have to sit back and accept being told that these valid issues raised are so much "garbage"?

My reply will soon be flying through the internets to the waiting inbox of the NDN:

To the editors,

Helen F. Flynn of Middletown raises important questions in her letter of December 4. I hope I may be of assistance in answering them.

To take Ms. Flynn's second constitutional question first: the problem of members of Congress being appointed to cabinet posts which have seen salary increases during their terms is one that has come up before. A workaround known as the Saxbe Fix has been established to deal with the problem, as noted by Wikipedia: "Historically, the solution has been to reduce salaries of Cabinet positions to the level they were before the offending salary increases. Although the method originated in 1909 during the Taft Administration, it is named after Senator William B. Saxbe, who successfully was appointed to be United States Attorney General in 1973 after Congress acted to "fix" the violation of the clause by reducing the Attorney General salary to the previous level. The fix subsequently has become relevant as a successful solution for Presidential appointments to the United States Cabinet of sitting members of the United States Congress." If the Saxbe Fix was good enough for Philander C. Knox, William B. Saxbe, and Edmund Muskie, then it's good enough for Hillary Clinton.

As for Ms. Flynn's first constitutional question concerning Barack Obama's citizenship, I have to confess that Ms. Flynn has a very good point. Obama's actual birth certificate has never been passed around among members of the press, since Hawaii state law bars release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who does not have a tangible interest in it, i.e. the individual himself or a close family member. That being so, it could certainly be the case that Dr. Chiyome Fukino, the Director of Hawaii's Department of Health, could have been lying when she said that she and Registrar of Vital Statistics Alvin Onaka personally verified the existence of Obama's State of Hawaii birth certificate. It could also be the case that the Certification of Live Birth that has been available online since June could be a forgery.

What I find particularly troubling about the birth certificate controversy is that fact that Senator Clinton never brought it up during the Democratic primaries, and neither did Senator John McCain or Governor Sarah Palin during the general election campaign, and all of them certainly would have had good reason to do so. I can only conclude that Senator Clinton, Senator McCain, and even Governor Palin are all involved in a massive conspiracy to hide the true facts surrounding Obama's possible disqualification for the presidency.

I think Ms. Flynn's course is clear. She must continue to press the question of Barack Obama's dubious citizenship claims. I would advise her to get together with other likeminded concerned citizens of Rhode Island and demand that the state's political leaders speak up on the issue. In particular, I think that she and her allies ought to confront Rhode Island Republican Party Chairman Giovanni Cicione. If Mr. Cicione does not accept the validity of Ms. Flynn's concerns, she and her allies ought to take steps to remove Mr. Cicione from his position as party chairman and replace him with someone with the proper concern for the U.S. Constitution.

I believe that the issue of Barack Obama's birth certificate is just what the Rhode Island Republican Party needs to regain the support of the people of Rhode Island. Ms. Flynn and her allies ought to focus on this issue like a laser -- if necessary, to the exclusion of all else. If they do, and if they succeed in gaining control of the state Republican Party, I think they can make this issue the centerpiece of an Ocean State Republican rennaisance.

Ms. Flynn, your duty as an American is clear: go to it, and good luck!