News

A wake-up call

Ranting about money and media; musical musings; and notes from the road
Some months back, Judge Richard Posner, a prolific author and longtime leading figure in the laissez-faire-oriented Chicago school of economics published his latest tome, a little bit of conservative heresy titled A Failure of Capitalism .

By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | January 27, 2010

A nation hooked on cars

Vroom! Vroom!
The car is at the center of many of our troubles — our addiction to oil, the warming of the planet. Car accidents do incalculable damage.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 27, 2010

In Pawtucket, a Haitian-American family anxiously waits

Dispatches
Their roof is a blanket held up by sticks, their bed is dirt. Every morning, they wake — the grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews — and begin their journey on foot to search for something to eat and drink.

By ELIZABETH RAU | January 27, 2010

Trying times for Obama

Tough times for the nation
It was only a matter of time before President Barack Obama turned into a deficit hawk. But it is a measure of the desperation sparked by Scott Brown's election to Ted Kennedy's old Senate seat that Obama hatched before the conclusion of the 2010 congressional elections and unveiled a spending freeze.

By EDITORIAL | January 27, 2010

A memoir, a tour, and a state coming to grips with slavery

History Dept.
The latest turn in Rhode Island's complicated dialogue with its slaveholding past: a yearlong project encouraging locals to read a memoir by the son of a freed slave.

By BILL RODRIGUEZ | January 27, 2010

What’s next for Cicilline?

After a couple of tough years — and some jabs from Buddy — how bright is his political future?
Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline rode into office seven years ago as the fresh-faced anti-Buddy. Bleach for a soiled City Hall.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 21, 2010

Does Scott Brown’s victory mean doom for RI Democrats?

Fallout
Republican Scott Brown's stunning victory this week in the race for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts has created something approaching panic in the ranks of Congressional Democrats.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 20, 2010

Hail Mary pass?

Nothing says Super Bowl Sunday like an anti-abortion ad; Ripping Rush; and more
Phillipe and Jorge noticed an interesting tidbit in the sports section of the New York Times recently.

By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | January 20, 2010

Rhode Island’s own stab at health reform

Get Healthy
Health care reform, if it survives the election of Republican Scott Brown to Ted Kennedy's old Senate seat, will make insurance accessible and provide a slew of new consumer protections for millions of Americans.

By MARION DAVIS | January 20, 2010

Tea-bagger Brown triumphs

Obama must rally independents
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley may be a good person and a dedicated public servant, but thanks to her gut-wrenching loss to tea-bagging Republican Scott Brown in the race for the US Senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy, Coakley is now — quite rightly — a figure of local scorn and national derision.

By EDITORIAL | January 20, 2010

Boston organization fighting good fight in Haiti

Quake Response
Good news from Haiti: the catastrophic earthquake that struck this Caribbean nation last week did no damage to the 10 Haitian-run hospitals and clinics aided by the Boston-based charity Partners in Health (PiH). Each of the 10, which offer free care to all comers swung into action immediately after the quake struck.

By JEFF INGLIS | January 20, 2010

Disaster, then détente

Politically speaking, Hurricane Katrina this was not
From the first days after the earthquake struck Haiti — long before anyone knew how dire the situation was, let alone how the US government would respond — pundits were wagging their tongues about the potential political implications. A poor response, they said, would invite comparisons to the Bush administration's bungled handling of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 25, 2010

How Brown won

While Massachusetts Democrats assess blame for who lost the Senate seat, the truth is that Scott Brown won it
As the Massachusetts US Senate election unfolded yesterday, all that the pols and pundits wanted to talk about was how Martha Coakley managed to lose the race. And there is plenty there to dissect. But there is another part of the story, and that is how Scott Brown managed to win it.

By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | January 22, 2010

Sexy and saucy

Glitter, body paint, and the burlesque revival
It's just before 9 pm on a frigid Saturday, and the basement-turned-green room of the Perishable Theatre in Providence is positively swarming.

By ELLEN CUSHING | January 13, 2010

A gadfly eyes public office

Pursestrings
Rhode Island's gubernatorial tilt is attracting more attention than any other of the state's budding races.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 13, 2010

A Providence foundation seeks out the awesome

Superlatives Dept.
What is awesome? A burrito, if you ask me. And nearly any record by the band Spoon.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 13, 2010

An unlikely clash: wind developers and environmentalists

Wind Dept.
The growing push for wind power in Rhode Island is creating friction between wind developers and an unlikely group of critics: environmentalists.

By STEVEN STYCOS | January 13, 2010

Finally, a GOP gubernatorial contender!

Robitaille gives it a go. Plus, voter unrest, Reid puts his foot in it, and more.
Speaking of the GOP, it appears the party has a candidate — at last! — for the gubernatorial race, provided he doesn't wimp out like Rory Smith did when he realized he was in a no-win, not-ever situation.

By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | January 13, 2010

Chafee and the hazards of a bold politics

Tax Dept.
By the time a candidate for major office steps up to the microphone to officially declare for the seat, everyone already knows his intentions.

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | January 06, 2010