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Friday, September 28, 2007
Like I said yesterday, that's why they play the games. But despite my disappointment at this kind of missed opportunity, the Sox sit pretty much atop baseball, and division series time is almost upon us.
More good news: the genius-types at Baseball Prospectus rank the Sox tops in Secret Sauce, and a Cubs-Sox World Series may be in the offing. Don't ask me to explain Secret Sauce. I told you they are genius-types (h/t SoSH).
September 27, 2007, 10:35 PM ET
Secret Sauce Update
by Nate Silver
Below is an updated reckoning of the secret sauce rankings for 2007. The secret sauce ranking consists of three statistics within the category of pitching and defense — Equivalent Strikeouts Per Nine innings (EqK9), Fielding Runs Above Average (FRAA), and Closer Performance (as measured by the WXRL of the pitcher with the most save opportunities) — that have been demonstrated to have a predictive relationship with success in the post-season. Teams are ranked from 1 to 30 in each category and the total rankings are added up to produce an overall score. Potential playoff teams are indicated in red Team EqK9 Rank FRAA Rank WXRL Rank Total
BOS 7.2 2.5 43 2 5.062 3 7.5
LAD 7.2 2.5 4 12.5 5.582 2 17
CHC 7.5 1 36 3 2.955 18 22
LAA 7.1 4 4 12.5 3.862 11 27.5
ARI 6.8 6 0 15 4.076 8 29
NYY 6.1 21.5 27 5 4.21 6 32.5
MIN 6.4 13 -3 17 4.446 4 34
NYM 6.4 13 5 11 3.794 12 36
TOR 6.4 13 25 6 2.974 17 36
KCR 6.1 21.5 1 14 4.395 5 40.5
DET 6.3 18 22 7 2.849 19 44
CIN 6.6 9.5 -17 22 3.203 15 46.5
PIT 6 24.5 -2 16 4.087 7 47.5
CLE 6.3 18 14 9 2.554 21 48
MIL 7 5.5 -40 27.5 3.073 16 49
PHI 6.3 18 31 4 1.543 27 49
ATL 6.4 13 20 8 0.596 28 49
SEA 6 24.5 -19 24 7.246 1 49.5
FLA 6.7 8 -59 30 3.298 14 52
WSN 5.2 30 12 10 3.47 13 53
SDP 6 24.5 -8 21 3.942 10 55.5
TBD 7 5.5 -56 29 2.471 22 56.5
STL 5.4 29 -5 19 3.978 9 57
COL 5.9 27 70 1 0.272 29 57
BAL 6.6 9.5 -4 18 -0.159 30 57.5
HOU 6.4 13 -21 25 1.785 26 64
TEX 6 24.5 -6 20 2.774 20 64.5
SFG 6.3 18 -18 23 1.83 25 66
CHW 6.3 18 -40 27.5 2.436 23 68.5
OAK 5.8 28 -23 26 2.399 24 78
Yes, the Secret Sauce is still predicting a Cubs-Red Sox World Series. Might be time to start repenting any unforgiven sins.
The Red Sox, in fact, might be one of the best Secret Sauce teams of all time, ranking in the Top 3 in all three categories. Everyone knows that the Red Sox have an excellent closer — the playoffs are about having an alpha dog in the bullpen, not about ‘pen depth. And their pitching staff can bring the heat. That their defense rates so well might be a little bit of a surprise, but Boston is third in the league in defensive efficiency, and FRAA at the team level is heavily correlated with that number.
Similarly, the Cubs rank second in the league in defensive efficiency, so even if Clay has their defensive aptitude coming from some unlikely sources (Aramis Ramirez at +18?), the fact that the Cubs simply aren’t allowing a lot of balls to turn into base hits, so some people are certainly doing their job well. Ryan Dempster is not an asset, but between the Zambrano/Hill/Lilly trio and Carlos Marmol working in the 7th and 8th innings, this team has a lot of pitchers with rally-killing stuff.
Otherwise, the Diamondbacks come out looking pretty well, and this metric ought to at least somewhat counteract concerns about their negative run differential. The intriguing question is whether the D’Backs, on those days when Brandon Webb is not starting, might be willing to consider the parade-o’-relievers. Start Livan Hernandez or whomever, let him go 3-4 innings, and if you aren’t leading by at least two runs by the time his second plate appearance comes up, go ahead and pinch hit for him and let the parade-o’-relievers begin. As I’ve said, bullpen depth is generally something that gets buried in the playoffs — but it doesn’t have to be that way if the manager is a little bit creative, and Arizona’s middle relief corps is their greatest comparative advantage.
 
Contrary to popular belief in some quarters, on-street parking in residential neighborhoods will not hasten the decline of Western Civilization. Patrick Ward, the force behind Citizens for Resident Permit Parking, will tell you the same thing. The Phoenix has written about this in the past.
The PBN has an update on the campaign:
“There’s a hundred good reasons to eliminate the overnight parking ban,” Ward said last week. “But I can’t think of a lot of good ones to maintain it.”
In the last 18 months, he and other volunteers have circulated petitions, organized rallies, put up lawn signs and talked to neighborhood groups.
Now the efforts appear to paying off.
City officials confirmed last week that a pilot parking permit program will be established for a four-block section of Mount Pleasant surrounding Ward’s three-unit apartment house that is particularly starved for parking spaces.
According to City Councilman Terrance Hassett, the densely populated neighborhood with limited off-street parking joins an area of Washington Park in which cars have been allowed for about a year to park on the streets overnight with a permit.
Hassett said it will take another 60 to 90 days for the new program to start, allowing for signs to be printed and installed. Acknowledging he didn’t support the permit plan when it was first suggested last year, Hassett said he was swayed by the success of the Washington Park experiment.
“We’ve discovered it can be done with few problems,” he said.
The victory for Ward’s group doesn’t end there. Kari Lang, executive director of the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, said there are plans to add a pilot permit program in that neighborhood, too.
Kristen Cyr, ace spokeswoman at the Community College of RI, sends word of this event:
Nine Liberian journalists will speak on pertinent topical issues affecting the emerging democracy in Liberia at a community forum at noon on Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Liston Campus of the Community College of Rhode Island, 1 Hilton St., Providence.
Among other topics, the journalists will discuss the contribution of the media to the march toward sustainable democracy and the media environment -- how it has changed and how it could be enhanced -- during the forum. Maureen Sieh, former senior reporter of the Liberian Daily Observer and now editor of urban affairs of the Post Standard in Syracuse, N.Y., will serve as forum moderator.
The visiting journalists come from diverse spectrum of the Liberian media landscape, including the print and electronic media as well as civic media organizations, the Press Union of Liberia, Female Journalists Association of Liberia and the Liberia Media Center. The group’s visit is part of an exchange program implemented by the Center for Democracy and Development at the University of Massachusetts in Boston and sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The Liberia Media Support Initiative, a media watchdog group, organized the event in collaboration with the Center for Democracy and Development at UMass Boston and the Liberian community of Rhode Island.
This forum also is part of an ongoing relationship between CCRI and the Liberian community. Members of CCRI’s student government will participate in the forum, which is free and open to members of the public. Attendees are asked to arrive promptly at noon for a one-hour viewing of a photo exhibit presented by renowned Liberian photojournalist Gregory Stemn, a former photo editor of such Liberian newspapers as the Daily Observer and Inquirer. His photos trace the country’s transition from civil war to democracy and peace.
For more information, contact Nyekeh Forkpa at (401) 477-4993 or at nyekeh33@yahoo.com or Sam Togba Slewion at (215) 964-3217 or stslewion@aol.com.
Several dozen gay and lesbian couples are expected at the State House at 10 am tomorrow for a celebration of the one-year anniverary of the right of same-sexers to marry in Massachusetts. Their will also be calls for the General Assembly to establish this right in Rhode Island.
The event is being sponsored by Marriage Equality Rhode Island and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders.
Matt has a report that Guillaume de Ramel, who lost last year's Democratic primary for secretary of state, is being talked up as a possible candidate to succeed the late Paul Crowley.
Although de Ramel lost a low-turnout Democratic primary in 2006 to current Secretary of State Ralph Mollis 53% - 47%, he did overwhelmingly win the city of Newport by a margin of 75% - 25%.
With these results and his high name recognition, de Ramel would be the early favorite to win a special election in House District 75. Perennial candidate Dave Carlin III is also expected to run.
Although the International Association of Firefighters, Local 799, the union representing Providence firefighters, has taken a serious public-relations hit in recent days, union president Paul Doughty remained unbowed during a taping this morning of WPRI/WNAC-TV's Newsmakers.
Doughty rejected suggestions that the firefighters are seeking overly generous benefits, saying that arbitration has yielded results close to what they are seeking.
Asked why Local 799 continues to act against Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, considering how an outstanding contract dispute remains in arbitration, Doughty took note of Cicilline's expected 2010 gubernatorial run and said that firefighters want the rest of the state to be aware of the mayor's labor record.
While Cicilline might work the issue to his advantage, Doughty's comment suggests that firefighters may remain a thorn in the mayor's side during the next campaign season.
Newsmakers will be broadcast Sunday at 5:30 am on Channel 12 and at 10 am on Fox 64.
Off the set, there were indications that Local 799's plan to picket a disaster drill on Sunday, thereby putting a big crimp in it, might be canceled today. Amanda Milkovits has details on this in today's ProJo.
Meanwhile, writing at Anchor Rising, Andrew has this tart observation:
When you manage to get David Cicilline and Don Carcieri and Bob Kerr and Gio Cicione all aligned against an action you're taking, it's time to consider that you might be doing the wrong thing. Bob Kerr says it best in today's Projo, talking about the Providence Firefighters' Union plan to use a picket line to impede Saturday's statewide disaster drill...
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — you can earn a year’s pay in one horrible night.
But don’t do this. Don’t put a lasting stain on a fine tradition. Don’t let this showdown with the city lead you to do something that insults the very thing you’re supposed to stand for.
If you do this, if you use the picket line to screw up a statewide terrorism drill, you lose. You lose credibility and respect and professional standing. You come across as petty and arrogant, even childish. You are having a snit, and your snit is dangerous....
This one is going to stick to the firefighters union for a long time. It will be cited as an example of a union that lost its way and let long-standing grievances lead to a dumb and dangerous slap at the city union members are supposed to protect. It is a gift to anyone who sits on the other side of the bargaining table.
It is also an insult to hundreds of people who are very good at what they do.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
The stars might be in alignment for this to happen, what with Josh Beckett on the bumb at Fenway, and Scott Kazmir squaring off against the Yankees, but then again, that's why they play the games.
Meanwhile, you've got to love the dissonance of Boston.com's Eric Wilbur panning the president of Red Sox Nation thing, even while the banner ad on the page in question (see below) implores readers to vote in said contest. So much for the ill effects of corporate consolidation.
I hope the dog wins.
What more apropos way would there be to put an end to this President of Red Sox Nation farce than to elect a canine and bestow upon him the privileges and benefits that come with this inane season-long promotion?
As if anyone needed one more reason why Red Sox fans have become the laughingstock of the baseball word, we present to you the search for a President of Red Sox Nation. Ironically, as the search intensifies for the betterment of corporate Red Sox Nation, the Red Sox fan dies a slow death, a fact that people in the marketing department can’t seem to get a handle on as they relentlessly push on.
If you’re like me, you’ve simply tried to ignore the entire situation, lowering the volume when Jerry Remy provides you with his nightly take on the happenings of the election and cringing at the fact that Peter Gammons, of all people, is actually involved in this ridiculous affair.
Personally, N4N is not so aggravated by the whole thing. If J.D. Drew keeps hitting like the way he has been, and similarly good things keep happening, I'm not going to sound a disparaging word.
The office of Secretary of State Ralph Mollis sends along word of plans for a lottery tomorrow regarding ballot placement for the House District 22 special primary and election and for the Jamestown municipal races. The District 22 seat was left vacant by the recent resignation of Representative Peter Ginaitt of Warwick.
The public is invited to attend the ballot placement lotteries on Fri., Sept. 28, at 4:30 p.m. at 148 West River St., Providence, where our Elections division is housed.
“I pledged to make government more transparent. There is nothing that will give voters more faith in the fairness of their elections than the opportunity to see for themselves how the process unfolds,” said Secretary of State Mollis.
The strong feelings that Rhode Islanders place in their public libraries explains the level of intensity around several years of controversy involving the Providence Public Library, the mothership for the state.
Now, just in time for Banned Books Week, the PPL will offer two screenings of The Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarians Through Film, a documentary. You can see the trailer here.
About the Film
The Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarians through Film was completed in May 2007, and had its red-carpet premiere at the American Library Association annual conference in Washington, DC on June 22, 2007 to over 4,000 librarians and friends. This is the first movie on the subject of the real lives and actual work of U.S. librarians. Using the “hook” of Hollywood motion picture clips, it introduces the audience to all kinds of librarians: school and children’s librarians, special librarians, academic librarians, library educators and graduate students, a cataloger, and public librarians. Beginning with the history of information organization – Hypatia and the Library of Alexandria – the film touches on Andrew Carnegie, Melvil Dewey, and early women library professionals. Moving into the 21st century, this documentary gives audiences the chance to peer into the world of librarians: the skills and passion it takes, the challenges of book censorship, and most of all, the pressures of declining library funding.
The screenings will take place this Saturday, September 29, at 2:30 pm at the PPL, 150 Empire St., and Thursday, October 4, at 7 pm at the Rochambeau branch, 708 Hope St. Tickets are $8 f0r adults, $5 for children (over 6) and seniors.
Writing in this week's Phoenix, I take a look at state Representative David Segal of Providence, who combines earnestness and a bit of youthful cool in his ongoing work as a legislator-activist:
When state Representative David Segal staged a fundraiser in May at Nick-a-Nee’s, the watering hole in Providence’s Jewelry District, the idiosyncratic crowd indicated just how different this event was from your standard legislative money-maker.
Aside from the reasonably expected throng of 20-something activists, creative-types, and some older Fox Point constituents, the attendees encompassed the Democratic and Republican leadership of the House of Representatives. Even Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline, with whom Segal had sparred when he served on the Providence City Council and who had worked against Segal’s preferred council successor, made the scene. The What Cheer? Brigade, a roving brass band with a punk rock spirit, offered the soundtrack for the free-wheeling evening.
“He throws a hell of a party,” acknowledges House Minority Leader Robert Watson (R-East Greenwich), who says he attended the event to help maintain a working relationship with Segal. “He may be liberal,” Watson says, “but I also believe him to be open-minded. Republicans appreciate an open mind on the House floor. It’s ironically rare these days.”
Note is also taken of the path traveled by Segal since he first ran for local office in 2002:
Segal, a Maryland native who moved to Providence after graduating from Columbia University in 2001, faced sharp criticism and charges of being a carpetbagger when he won a city council seat a relatively short time later — becoming the first Green Party candidate to win an election in Rhode Island — at age 22.
Mixing idealism and unabashedly liberal politics with a seriousness of purpose, the rep has long since converted many, if not most, of his critics into believers. And while elected officials are generally wary of making detailed public statements, Segal frequently blogs on the progressive site www.rifuture.org , regularly publishes op-eds in the Providence Journal, and he is one of two managing editors of a new, mostly entertainment-related blog, www.providencedailydose.com. One friend even likens the representative, given his ubiquity, to Adrian Grenier’s hip actor character on the HBO hit Entourage.
If politics is the art of the possible, as Otto Von Bismarck once remarked, Segal seems like a skilled practitioner.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Recall those flights that shuttled Saudi nationals out of the US after 9/11? It's turns out that one of them emanated from Warwick:
It’s been six years since 9/11, and far from becoming old news, there’s always more to learn about that day and its aftermath.
Remember the charter flights that expedited Saudi nationals out of the US soon after the attacks? Some of these whisked away Saudi royalty, while others, more ominously, carried extended members of the bin Laden family.
A 2003 Vanity Fair article claimed that the FBI facilitated the flights, and Judicial Watch eventually forced the release of the FBI.’s own heavily redacted documents about the matter. The documents, with various information blacked out, nonetheless confirm that six charter flights carrying Saudis left the US between September 14 (the first day flights were allowed) and September 24, 2001.
The first of these infamous flights, it appears, took off from our own T.F. Green Airport. Yet a March 27, 2005, New York Times article, reprinted on page A-13 of the Providence Journal, provided little detail.
According to the documents unearthed by Judicial Watch, a public interest group, “On 9/14/2001, four individuals, including [redacted], a member of the Saudi Royal Family, flew from Providence, R.I., to Paris, France, aboard a chartered aircraft.” The flight — paid for with an American Express card, the name of whose owner was redacted — cost $75,000 and the passengers carried 1500 pounds of luggage.
“Pacific Jet Company” booked the charter through Northstar Aviation in Warwick. The FBI interviewed individuals at Northstar, while, according to the documents, the Rhode Island State Police and US Customs Service searched the luggage. The names of those on the flight remain redacted.
“Extensive investigation revealed no information to suggest travel by [redacted] and [redacted] and [redacted] within New England was connected to any terrorist or criminal activity,” the documents continue.
Northstar Aviation is owned by Frank Zammiello, a Cranston and Florida-based real estate mogul who wants to build a high rise on Federal Hill. As the Providence Journal noted in July, Zammiello and his family in 1986 pledged more than $6 million to secure a pre-trial release for then-New England mob boss Raymond J. “Junior” Patriarca.
The FBI conducted follow-up interviews regarding the Providence flight into 2002. Reading between redactions, it appears that the royal passenger's plans to attend a New England school fell through and his father called him home immediately after the attacks on 9/11.
An agent in the Providence FBI office first denied the flight in question happened, and then said he had a vague memory of it. (A lot of turnover since that day, he said.) He found another agent with more information, but to talk they had to have permission from the FBI’s Boston office, which declined to provide it.
N4N briefly covered Jane Swift's unsuccessful challenge to US Representative John Olver in 1996, and she struck me as being intelligent and ambitious. It was nonetheless surprising when she rapidly ascended to the governor's office in Massachusetts, thanks to how the incumbent, Paul Celllucci, took a post as ambassador to Canada.
Swift had a stormy time in office, catching flack at one point for using a state police helicopter to shuttle her back to her home in western Massachusetts.
Anyway, she's slated to talk this afternoon at Brown. Here are the details, from Darrell West:
Former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift will discuss “Rising to the Occasion: Public Leadership in Challenging Times” at 4 p.m., Wednesday, September 26 at Brown University. Her lecture will take place in Salomon Center Room 001 on the campus green. It is free and open to the public.
Governor Swift served as the first female governor of Massachusetts. During her term, she worked to improve public education and enhance the economic opportunities available to families and businesses. She championed legislation that provided a guaranteed college education for foster children and enabled state employees better to balance the demands of work and family. She was elected lieutenant governor in 1998 and became governor in 2001. She is a 1987 graduate of Trinity College.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Saturday's 8-6 come-from-behind win seemed like one of those games that could change a season. With the Sox' flagging, they got help from Tek, as well as some unexpected sources -- Drew, Lugo, and Gagne. But by the next day, Boston was again missing a chance to capitalize, losing by a run to the D-Rays.
Sean McAdam has a good look today at the questions facing the Sox from here.
The Rhode Island chapter of the ACLU has announced a settlement with Rhode Island College:
The ACLU of Rhode Island today announced a favorable settlement in its lawsuit against Rhode Island College for censoring a sign display supporting reproductive freedom that was sponsored by a student women’s rights group on campus. The signs were taken down after administrators received objections about them from a priest. The ACLU lawsuit, filed by volunteer attorney Jennifer Azevedo, had argued that the college violated the First Amendment rights of the student group, the Women’s Studies Organization (WSO) of RIC, and its three student officers. The highlight of the settlement is an award by RIC of $5,000 to the student group.
In December 2005, the WSO, in conjunction with a general day of activism on women’s issues to take place the next day, put up a series of signs on a grassy area beside the entrance road on RIC property. The signs stated, “Keep your rosaries off our ovaries”, “Our bodies, our choice”, “Brought to you by RIC Women’s Studies Organization.” Shortly after the signs went up, they were seen by a priest driving onto the campus to conduct a weekly Mass at the home of RIC President John Nazarian. After the priest raised concerns about them, President Nazarian immediately contacted the campus police and ordered the signs taken down. He subsequently advised the students that additional approval stages were required to post signs, even though they had previously been assured that they had followed all the necessary steps.
Under the settlement agreement, the College does not admit any liability for its actions that night, but has agreed to give $5,000 to the WSO, and also to pay $6,350 in attorneys fees and costs. In addition, the College has adopted a uniform policy governing all signage posted on the college roadways.
Earlier this year, the Phoenix graced RIC president John Nazarian with a prestigious Muzzle Award:
In December 2005, the Women’s Studies Organization at the college posted several signs in support of reproductive freedom — including, most notably, KEEP YOUR ROSARIES OFF OUR OVARIES. A priest reportedly noticed the signs while traveling to Nazarian’s home to celebrate mass, and mentioned them during the service. Nazarian responded by ordering that the signs be taken down, claiming that the women had not followed the proper approval process.
This past December, the Rhode Island ACLU filed suit in federal court, claiming the women’s First Amendment rights had been abridged. Now, of course, it’s true that people can’t go around putting up signs anywhere they please. But according to the ACLU, the place where the Women’s Studies Organization had posted its signs — the entrance to the campus — has been the scene of numerous temporary signs, including some put up by the college itself.
Rhode Island College is a public, taxpayer-funded institution, which makes Nazarian’s act of censorship that much worse. “A public university can’t abridge anyone’s free-speech rights, including [those of] students,” says Jennifer Azevedo, a volunteer lawyer with the ACLU.
The mystery is why Nazarian believed he needed to do anything. A demonstration of pro-choice sentiment at a college in the liberal Northeast is hardly the stuff of controversy. In fact, it’s difficult to believe that even the priest who mentioned it to Nazarian was offended, no matter how strongly he may have disagreed with the message. If Nazarian had just waited a few days, the signs would have been gone and forgotten.
The ProJo's Ed Achorn sees good news in the plummeting approval rating of Governor Carcieri:
It suggests that the public may be finally getting it: Rhode Island is in deep trouble, and it needs serious leadership now to steer its way out of a looming financial nightmare.
The Republican governor’s leadership, unfortunately, has been AWOL this year. He started off 2007 with an absurdly rosy State of the State address, and then submitted a budget that used one-time fixes and projected enormous out-year deficits — thus surrendering the moral high ground he might have occupied over the Democrat-run General Assembly.
When he finally talked about trimming his executive-branch workforce — seemingly, in a fit of pique when the Assembly promulgated a budget that failed to solve the long-term deficit problem — he did so without any apparent idea of the details: who would be cut, and why. Months later, he is reportedly still trying to figure out how to trim the state workforce.
That’s an important first step, of course, but it inevitably raises a question: If there were so many positions the state did not need, why did Mr. Carcieri wait until five years into his governorship — with massive deficits staring him in the face — to economize that way?
Just in case you think Achorn is starting to sound like Bill Lynch, the columnist has some fair criticism for State House Democrats as well.
Still, Carcieri -- who, in explaining his shrinking approval rating, has cited months of unflattering press about the budget and other matters -- shoud be a bit worried when he continues to face this rap from someone who would usually like to support him.
It doesn't help, of course, when Amgen is cutting hundreds of local jobs.
Achorn's close echoes one of my recent posts about the stakes facing Carcieri as he moves deeper into his second term:
Unless the governor is prepared to fight for those things, his poll numbers will continue to languish.
It won’t be easy to prod the General Assembly to do the right thing, perhaps. But, in this environment, with a public hungry for change, that is something a great leader — rather than merely a great glad-hander — has to be able to do.
Monday, September 24, 2007
UPDATED: with additional detail.
. . . .
Former state representative Tom Palangio has left his position as the City of Providence's legislative lobbyist.
Palangio, who turned down a job with the city's Department of Inspections and Standards, says he left the lobbyist post because he felt he had "taken it as far as I could." In terms of the timing, he says, "I just wanted to make sure that whoever ended up taking up those responsibilities had some time before the [new legislative] session began."
Palangio, who came into the legislative lobbyist position following David Cicilline's election as mayor in 2002, says "we were all upset by" the lack of legislative budgetary relief this year. He says he was not asked to leave and that it was "pretty much" his decision.
Cicilline spokeswoman Karen Southern says Palangio "felt it was just time to move on."
She says the city is in the process "of determining how we are going to approach lobbying in the General Assembly in the future. The administration expects to make that determination well in advance of the next legislative session."
On September 13, Palangio sent a system-wide e-mail to other city employees, expressing regret about leaving. He thanked his fellow workers, describing his time in the post as a "wonderful experience," and he called the city "a truly unique place to work."
Palangio, the brother of John Palangio, the director of executive operations for Attorney General Patrick Lynch, says he is looking at opportunities to lobby "for a couple of other private groups."
Palangio's departure, and Deb Brayton's recent move to become Cicilline's chief of staff are part of several other changes in the mayor's office. Gonzalo Cuervo is shifting to a senior speechwriting and internal communications position, and Ani Haroian, a former high-ranking Lynch aide, and Serena Conley, previously Cicilline's scheduler, are moving to the Office of Neighborhood Services Community Relations.
The Steel Yard, the arts hotspot on Providence's West Side is offering a 6 pm forum tomorrow on "The Artist and The City: Public Art and Community."
Our intention is to discuss various ways that artists build relationships with the city of Providence and its citizens through works of art whether bought by patrons, commissioned by organizations or installed by the artists themselves.
As a case study, we will consider the Steel Yard's recent experience with commissioning artwork for its Urban Furniture line (one of a kind, custom- produced street amenities designed and built by RI artists). In this scenario, our client took issue with the content of one artist's set of 4 unique garbage cans. The Steel Yard was obligated to uphold the client's right to reject the product but also felt a strong responsibility to the artist we hired. The client maintained that the set of cans was not the product they had contracted for and that certain elements of the design content were not representative of their community. The artist saw the rejection of her work as censorship. After extensive conversations and negotiations, the Steel Yard upheld the client's right to reject the product while protecting the artist by choosing to pull the set of cans from the larger order. This experience raised new questions about the role of public art on our city streets, individual artists' ability to speak for communities, and the ultimate location of ownership in work done for hire that has an ultimate public purpose. It also served as a reminder of the power of artistic expression in general. In a community where artists are often vocal opponents of sub-standard urban conditions and various political, social, and economic inequalities how does this unique relationship between public and personal expression find a voice that is fair and balanced?
The tributes are starting to come in for Representative Paul Crowley, who died this morning after an illness.
From Governor Carcieri:
“Paul Crowley was a legislator who served the public well, with a legendary work ethic and a decades-long commitment to improving education. His support of charter schools, promotion of school accountability, and backing of technical education are a living testament to his foresight and his work. Paul will be sorely missed at the State House. My deepest sympathies go to his wife and family.”
From US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse:
“Paul Crowley put Rhode Island’s children first – and built a legacy of achievement for our schools that will endure for generations. Newport, the city he loved, and the Ocean State, whose people he served unselfishly and with great integrity, are less today because he is no longer with us. Sandra and I offer our deepest condolences to Diana, to Paul’s family, and to so many friends and colleagues who knew and cared about this extraordinary Rhode Islander.”
Back in March, when I reported on how Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian represents a rare bright spot for the perenially struggling Rhode Island Republican Party, my story included this information from Lincoln Chafee:
Asked about 2010, Chafee says he thinks Avedisian will “probably run for governor.” The former senator adds, “I do think he’d like to work in Washington, but a Republican pretty much needs an open seat [to win a congressional office].” Chafee says he is “not, at this stage,” planning a gubernatorial run, and he demurs when asked about a mayoral campaign. Referring to Avedisian, Chafee says, “At this stage, I’d encourage him to think about [running for] governor.”
Speaking to Charlie Bakst for a column in yesterday's Sunday ProJo, Chafee went a bit further:
I thought Chafee might try in 2010 for the governorship his late father, John, held in the 1960s and thus keep the seat Republican. But now comes word that the liberal Chafee, isolated within the national party, has become an independent.
He tells me he’s “unlikely” to run for governor and that if he does try for that post, or for mayor of Providence, where he now lives, he won’t return to GOP ranks to do it.
Avedisian, meanwhile, remains one of the wild cards for 2010. Does he run for governor, offering a moderate challenger to Steve Laffey, stay in Warwick, or make a bid for another office? Here's what his official line was back in March:
Avedisian is keeping his options open. It’s not inconceivable, he says, that he will continue to seek the mayor’s office in Warwick, although the possibility of being governor “does appeal to me. It would interest me. It would be something that I would have to consider.”
How he would fare against a well-funded conservative challenger, like Laffey, in a GOP gubernatorial primary remains open to question. Yet Avedisian has succeeded in building a strong foundation for his next move, even if he needs to develop his war chest. As one close observer of Rhode Island politics says, “The good thing about Scott, everyone likes him — Democrats, Republicans, independents. Everyone seems to have nice things to say about him.”
The downside of this bonhomie, as Avedisian freely concedes, is how he is very chummy with many of his would-be Democratic rivals. Last year, for example, he decided not to run for lieutenant governor, even though he could have formed a potent ticket with Carcieri. Avedisian denies that his friendship with Elizabeth Roberts, the Democrat who won the lieutenant governor’s seat, was the deciding factor, but he says, “Elizabeth and I would never run against one another.”
Friday, September 21, 2007
The takeaway of the local coverage this week of the latest Texas Transportation Institute traffic analysis was that we're a lot better off than congested-clogged places like Los Angeles. Such conclusions, while accurate, distract attention from a steadily growing amount of local traffic.
Critical Mass offers one approach of challenging cars.
Tomorrow, some creatively park-minded local activists will take over a bit of downtown Providence, as part of National Park(ing) Day. Art parks will form from 11 am to 2 pm, or thereabouts.
Mary Ann Sorrentino says the White House is gouging the reproductive interests of young women in college:
Who would ever finger our federal government as the force responsible for thousands of unintended pregnancies on US campuses?
The federal Deficit Reduction Act — which went into effect in January — may do just that. It is forcing up the price of birth control pills for college women — to $30 to $50 a month, instead of $3 to $10 — this academic year through a convoluted formula that allows favored pharmaceutical companies to decide how they will use the act’s mandated state rebates.
Pharmaceutical company representatives say that deep campus discounts for contraceptives burden company profits. There’s no word yet on how much thousands of unintended pregnancies resulting from unaffordable birth control will cost the rest of us in perpetuity.
Female students traditionally have no health insurance or they may be covered under a parent’s plan, in which case they often pay out-of-pocket to protect their privacy. This means insurance companies will not pick up much of the new cost hike for birth control pills.
The popularity of oral contraceptives and their hormonal patch spin-offs is not new. These are the two most effective methods of birth control, second only to sterilization, which — because it is permanent — is not usually an option for young women wishing to have children in the future.
When purchasing such effective contraception was affordable for the average student, curbing unwanted pregnancies was achievable. Now, with birth control costs increasing as much as five-fold, the outlook for holding down the numbers of unintended and unwanted pregnancies is bleak.
But the current birth control roadblock becomes even more unconscionable in the nation’s current anti-choice climate, in which women who may actually become pregnant by mistake are afforded fewer options for dealing with such an event. As the abortion debate heats up amid presidential campaigns, politicians and red state fanatics coalesce to limit women’s reproductive rights. Even the “morning after pill” was withheld unreasonably for years, until very recently.
Already-born children get less federal respect than the “unborn.” This may be because the “unborn” don’t require a line in this nation’s current budget, where maternal and child welfare have been gutted. Uncle Sam will have to face the fact that the already-born eat, get sick, require clothing, education and housing, and that any society is weakened by women who are forced into motherhood and robbed of their dreams.
Not surprising, but disquieting, is the gender gap in public reactions to the campus contraception price-gouging.
Male “experts” reassure us that the new pill costs will not result in a rash of campus pregnancies. The women biologically vulnerable — patients and observers — describe the increased pregnancy risks as high, mighty, and terrifying.
A country where Medicare covers Viagra so that old bucks can remain sexually active long after most women care ought to have the resources to help people in their childbearing years responsibly plan pregnancies.
In W’s world, however, unaffordable birth control pills may become the “weapons of mass destruction” that we couldn’t find, until now.
With war continuing in Iraq and elsewhere, today represents the UN's International Day of Peace.
The Rhode Island State Council of Churches asked its members to ring their bells for five minutes at noon. A second local event is scheduled for this Sunday, from 3-5 pm, at the Davey Lopes Recreation Center.
Ginny Fox of the Peace Flag Project sent along this info:
The International Day of Peace was mandated by the United Nations in 1981 as a day of global ceasefire and humanity’s first day of peace. The UN had the goal of making peace the center of dialogue in homes, neighborhoods, nations and the global community. By working together to achieve a day of peace, it is hoped that all people can realize that creating a culture of peace is the surest way to make the world a better and safer place for ourselves and our children.
On September 23, the Peace Flag Project will hold its fourth annual commemoration of the International Peace Day at the Davey Lopes Recreation Center Park from 3:00 to 5:00 pm. The Park is located at 227 Dudley Street in Providence. The event is free and open to the public. The event is also sponsored by the Southside Community Land Trust, the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, and the Apeiron Institute.
In July, the Providence City Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting the establishment of a US Department of Peace. Pam Steager, state coordinator of the effort, sent along this info:
"Providence could directly benefit from programs this Department would develop or disseminate that deal with societal discord like school violence, gang and gun violence," said Councilman Cliff Wood, who introduced the resolution on behalf of the Rhode Island Campaign for a Department of Peace. “The city has already been recognized for some of our initiatives in this regard, including our community policing efforts, the work of the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, and our increase in after school programs and summer jobs for city youth. It makes sense that we take a leadership role in increasing both the breadth and capacity of these kinds of efforts.”
Domestically, the Department will develop policies and allocate resources to effectively reduce the levels of domestic and gang violence, child abuse and various other forms of societal discord. Statistics reveal that each year, medical expenses from domestic violence alone total at least $3 to $5 billion and businesses forfeit another $100 million in lost wages, sick leave, absenteeism and non-productivity.
Internationally, the Department of Peace and Nonviolence will advise the President and Congress on the most sophisticated techniques and innovative ideas regarding peace building among nations. It would also research and analyze the root causes of war and other forms of violence to help prevent conflicts from escalating out of control in the first place. A Peace Academy, on par with the Military Service Academies, would train civilian peacekeepers and the military in the latest nonviolent conflict resolution strategies and approaches.
“According to the National Priorities Project, Providence taxpayers have spent over $188,000,000 so far on the War in Iraq,” said Pam Steager, state coordinator for the RI Campaign, which is affiliated with The Peace Alliance, a non-partisan, non-profit organization leading the effort to establish a U.S. Department of Peace and Nonviolence. “Local communities are where the effects of the realigned federal budget priorities are felt the most. City and town council members, as well as our state legislators, are having to make the difficult decisions about what to cut where from state and local budgets in reaction. We have to start asking ourselves about the current federal funding priorities that affect us all in so many ways, and establish the infrastructure needed to support best practices in violence prevention and peace building.”
The Globe's Bob Ryan, who puts Boston fourth among the prospective AL playoff teams, today has a frighteningly realistic assessment of the Sox:
So here they are, stumbling and wheezing their way to the finish line. Thanks to the Tigers, they will make the playoffs. If they don't hold on against the Yankees, there will be the predictable weeping and wailing, and I do feel sorry in advance for those of you who'll have to listen to the cackling from that guy in your office who came up from Queens or Joisey to go to BU and then decided to stick around. You'll get over it. Ask him what he was thinking after the 19-8 game. Sure, it will sting because it's the Yankees, but it doesn't really matter. Were the 2004 Red Sox champions of the AL East? The answer to that would be no.
But the truth is, there is no great reason to feel optimistic about the chances of the 2007 Red Sox. Who gets the ball in Game 2 of the AL Division Series? What if the bullpen doesn't snap out of it? What if Manny never Mannys? Will they manufacture at least one run? Does Papi have some late-inning mojo in reserve? Will J.D. do anything? Ever?
Can they hit really good pitching?
As recently suggested here, the coming legislative session will be very important for Governor Carcieri and Rhode Island as a whole. The state continues to face projected budget deficits, and the revenue stream could take a big hit if Massachusetts goes forward with the establishment of three casinos.
Carcieri remained characteristically upbeat during a taping this morning of WPRI/WNAC TV's Newsmakers, but his ability to deliver remains open to question. When I asked why Rhode Island has been relegated to playing defense on the casino issue, the governor answered mainly by calling gambling a short-sighted form of economic development for Massachusetts and other states in the region.
Asked how Rhode Island will recover from the revenue hit if Massachusetts goes forward with casinos, Carcieri said the state needs to pursue other forms of economic development, and he was upbeat in describing various non-budget-related economic indicators. Yet Amgen -- one of the companies to which he pointed -- is cutting jobs, and it seems that we frequently hear about other job losses in Rhode Island, like this.
Carcieri has described his intention to go forward with cuts in the state workforce. Asked how he will overcome General Assembly opposition, he said he will talk with the legislature.
Bold steps are needed to improve Rhode Island's economy. Meanwhile, some of the pundits most sympathetic to the governor, like Edward Achorn and Dan Yorke, have been increasingly critical this year in their assessment of his performance.
While Carcieri has resisted the lame duck label, the clock is steadily ticking on his time in office. How he governs over the next year or so will go a long way in determing the effectiveness of his two terms.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Last night's Providence Geek Dinner featured the official launch of RI Nexus, an ambitious new Web site from the RI Economic Development Corporation, which is meant to strengthen Rhode Island's growing information technology-digital media sector.
Jack Templin and Andy Cutler visited with N4N yesterday to talk up the site. It's got a lot of cool elements, including a blog, a calendar of upcoming events, a news radar, a directory of relevant RI companies, a statewide map, and forums.
Benjaim Gedan reports on RI Nexus in today's ProJo:
The state spent $80,000 to develop the site, paying programmers and financing a six-month outreach effort by Templin to solicit input from local companies and universities, according to Melissa L. Withers, a spokeswoman for the EDC.
State officials say that investment followed an analysis that counted 15,000 IT and digital media jobs in Rhode Island, paying an average of $69,510, far above the state’s median income.
Saul Kaplan, the head of the EDC, says he hopes RI Nexus will expand the sector by making it easier for companies to find employees. It will also help technology savvy Rhode Islanders “connect, communicate and collaborate,” trading ideas and forming new firms, Kaplan said.
The goal is to capitalize on the state’s size, often viewed as a disadvantage compared to larger cities, where a software developer can’t buy an iced coffee without stumbling on a crowd of computer scientists talking shop and trading tips.
A searchable directory on RI Nexus offers information on 200 local companies, universities and government agencies related to the IT and digital media sector. Individuals can also post their profiles, and participate in online discussion forums on the site.
With Rhode Island playing defense on the casino front, the geek sector, as I've written, offers some of the good news on the local economy.
We've heard more recently about the problems caused by the bottled water industry. Writing in this week's Phoenix, Brian C. Jones makes the half-serious, half-humorous case that his water shouldn't be taken away:
In a fiercely divided America, there’s one thing that the usually-correct Left shares with the almost-never Right. Both love to tell other people what to do.
My side thinks this bossy quality is the exclusive preserve of conservatives.
Indeed, the Right is forever barging into our bedrooms, hospital rooms, classrooms, and bathrooms with instructions on appropriate sex, prayer, end-of-life decisions, and proper foot-shuffling in the adjacent stall.
But the Left has its army of finger-waggers, too. No driving certain cars, no packing heat, no hunting, no eating anything that tastes good, no praying in public (or private), no wind turbines in front of summer beach homes.
Yet it’s the latest addition to the Liberal List of Forbidden Fruits that I find particularly hard to swallow: bottled water.
What? Water is bad? All this time, I thought it was Coke or Pepsi. Sugar water bad. Bad for your teeth. Water good. Drink eight glasses daily.
So you could have hit me upside the head with a .5-liter Poland Spring Sparkling Raspberry-lime when I learned they’d put the whammy on bottled water. Suddenly, the newspapers, the Internet, and the airwaves were awash in bad bottled water. Bad for the environment. Bad for municipal waterworks. Bad for Fiji.
How stupid to pay so much for it. Bottled water saps public support for municipal water supplies. Discarded bottles — 38 billion a year — clog landfills. Bottled water wastes oil needed to make bottles, filter the water, and run the trucks and trains that get the evil swill from one place to another.
There’s an excellent roundup about this in the Web-accessible July issue of Fast Company magazine, by Charles Fishman. The $16 billion industry earns more than the iPod, he says. A modern factory in Fiji exports a million bottles of water a day to the First World, while more than half of Fiji’s residents can’t even get safe municipal water. To all of this I say, leave me and my Poland Spring-swilling kind alone.
You think tap water is as tasty as tap? Then come on down to my hometown, Newport. There have been times when it’s been an act of daring to take a shower in the stuff, to say nothing of taking a sip.
To my fellow finger-waggers, if you’re concerned about those bottles piling up in the national landfill, do what liberals do best: pass laws, mandate recycling. Want Fiji to get potable water? Tax the bottlers and use the revenues to build a good municipal system — that’s the liberal way.
Concerned about the environment? Me too. But let’s go hunting for big game.
Let’s worry about coal-fired power plants, especially as China reruns the Industrial Revolution. Let’s deal with radioactive waste before nuclear power plants come back into fashion. And get those SUV beasts off the tail of my gas-stingy Civic.
But leave me and my cool, sparking Poland Spring alone. Get off my case, get out of my refrigerator, and get back to doing something that really will save the Earth.
Last night, after the Sox dropped another one, the NESN post-game broadcast (at least as received on the TV at the N4N household) went from color to black + white, with a steadily pulsating background. Weird.
Do not infer from the headline, though, that I've lost my faith. | |