January 23, 2014

Providence last in ‘Bible-mindedness’

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“We want people to know that whether you live in the least or most Bible-minded cities, the Bible can speak to your needs, challenges and concerns and help you make sense of your life,” says the American Bible Society (ABS) in a report that listed Providence RI and New Bedford MA as the “Least Bible-Minded” cities of 2013.

Taking the opposite spot of most “Bible-minded” is Chatanooga, Tennessee.

Drawing on research conducted by the Barna Group “a leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture” the ABS claims to have discovered an inverse relationship between “population size and Bible-friendliness.” In short, those cities with more Bible-mindedness have smaller populations, on average.

Time Magazine reports that Bible-mindedness, according to the ABS and Barna, is determined by the number of “respondents who report reading the bible within the past seven days and who agree strongly in the accuracy of the Bible.” By “Bible” the ABS and Barna apparently also include the Torah, (but not the Quran?) as the exact question asked was, “How many times do you read the bible outside of church or a synagogue?”

That this report is a load of bunkum should be obvious to all. The very concept of “Bible-mindedness” is questionable, to say the least. Though a familiarity with the Bible, like a familiarity with the works of Shakespeare, should be a part of any decent Western education, the ABS advocates a morbid relationship with the Bible that encourages daily readings and rote memorization.

Need to memorize the Bible? The ABS has an app for that.

This report, to the extent it is the least bit reliable (and that’s giving it way too much credit in my opinion) should at least give pause to any state legislators who seek to appease the loud yet tiny minority of Rhode Island voters who push for legislation that favors their religious views over others.

Rhode Island, by measure after measure, is a proudly secular and religiously diverse state, and our laws should seek to protect that balance.

January 23, 2014

Waiver chaos sparks ACLU to ask Guida to suspend NECAP policy

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Steve Brown, executive director of the RI ACLU, sent word to Patrick Guida, a member of the Board of Education and chairman of the ad hoc committee studying high stakes testing, that confusion over the waiver process proves it’s high time to reconsider the controversial NECAP graduation requirement policy.

[READ THE LETTER HERE]

“It is important for the Committee to realize that, as things currently exist, the waiver process is, in many instances, a completely arbitrary hodgepodge of inconsistent, incomplete, and poorly advertised policies that can only leave students and parents understandably anxious and perplexed,” Brown wrote in his letter.

In a subsequent phone interview, Guida said, “I have great respect for Steve Brown and am taking the letter very seriously” but added that he wanted to discuss the issue with committee members and Chairwoman Eva Mancuso before commenting on the letter. “As a board member I vote in favor of the assessment and still believe we need some form of assessment, but I am also very sensitive to the issues going around.”

The latest issue with the NECAP graduation requirement is the waiver process he state asked cities and town to develop for students who don’t pass the test.

Brown said in his letter: “Approximately two and a half months ago, the ACLU filed an open records request with all school districts to obtain a copy of their waiver policy as well as any documents related to its implementation, including any notice or instructions provided to parents or students about it and any forms that must be completed for a student to apply for a waiver. Such information is, obviously, essential for any meaningful waiver process, and required by RIDE’s guidance and regulations. The results of our request, however, were less than encouraging.”

You can read Brown’s entire letter here .

January 23, 2014

RIF Radio: Neil Steinberg talks about economic intersections and making it happen

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Monday Jan 23, 2013
North Kingstown, RI – Good morning, Ocean State Futurists. This is Bob Plain, editor and publisher of the RI Future blog podcasting to you from The Hideaway on the banks of the Mattatuxet River behind the Shady Lea Mill in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

Today is Thursday, January 23 and our show today is brought to you by Largess Forestry. Woodland preservationists and licensed arborists, no one will care for your trees better than Matt Largess and his crew. If you’ve got a tree or a woodlot in need of some sprucing up, call Matt today for a free consultation at 849-9191. That’s 849-9191 … or friend them on Facebook

A little later on, we’ll be talking to Neil Steinberg, executive director of the Rhode Island Foundation about the next step fort the Make It Happen RI movement … today the group will release a report on how to resurrect Rhode Island’s economy called Economic Intersections of Rhode Island: a private sector generated action agenda.

But first, the news…

Providence Journal columnist Ed Fitzpatrick helps Common Cause bring the gubernatorial candidates to the table to sign a meaningful People’s Pledge that would limit undisclosed, out-of-state money in the campaign. RI Future blogger Sam Howard has been all over this issue too, and he posted his third piece on it yesterday.

Also on RI Future this week, Steve Ahlquist has been running a series on reproductive justice … you should check out the videos he’s been posting as they show this is a broad-based issue that is more about freedom and economic prosperity for women than anything else.

And the AP’s David Klepper reports states all over the country – including Rhode Island – are considering legislation to label GMO foods. We’ve written a lot on this one Futurists, so let’s keep the pressure on … so far, only Maine and Connecticut have passed laws to label genetically modified ingredients.

Rep. Dennis Canario, from Portsmouth, Tiverton, Little Compton, is sponsoring the bill in the House. In a press release he said, “Knowledge is power and people need to know what they are putting into their bodies.” And added, ““I am not interested in launching a fight for an outright ban on genetically engineered products, but I am interested in educated consumers.“

January 23, 2014January 23, 2014

Department of Revenue website links to corporate lobby group

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Here’s a revealing nugget about how conservatives win the policy debates in our state: If you spend a lot of time trying to understand the Dickensian world of city and town budgets, like I do, you’re going to wind up spending a lot of time on the Department of Revenue’s municipal finance website. They provide quite a few useful resources, but as a helpful hint, they also provide links to other resources. One of them is the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council–our state’s most powerful corporate lobby.*

Commonly abbreviated as RIPEC, it’s a coalition of some of the largest and most important businesses in the state, and they take a rather extreme right-wing position in their State House lobbying. And the conservatives who run Smith Hill take their word as holy writ. Last year, when they proposed abolishing the Department of Environmental Management and moving its functions to the new Department of Commerce, Gordon Fox and House leadership actually tried to do it. (Fortunately, they didn’t succeed.)

There are two explanations for why the Department of Revenue decided to provide free advertising for RIPEC. One is that they’re hardcore RIPEC partisans. But I don’t think that’s what happened. Instead, I suspect that the culture of reverence for RIPEC is so strong on Smith Hill that no one thought it would be wrong to link to their website.

Sometimes we talk about the state government as if it’s entirely composed of right-wingers who are basically Republicans. Although there certainly are many hardcore conservatives, many legislators and bureaucrats would better be described as centrists who vote with the conservatives on economic issues because the center of discourse in this state is so far right. Although really a fairly fringe group, RIPEC has become so mainstream no one sees a problem with the government openly promoting them.

After all, when Senate leadership needed a white paper to make a show of doing something about jobs, they contracted it out to RIPEC. Naturally, what we got was a report harping on business tax climate indices, which are basically bogus statistics conservatives invented to help push for tax cuts for the rich.

*I suppose it isn’t quite fair to call RIPEC a corporate lobby. Many of their initiatives seriously damage Rhode Island businesses. Their signature initiative, cutting taxes for the rich and paying for it by gutting aid to cities and towns, was pretty tough on businesses, since cities had to raise commercial property taxes to make up for the lost state aid. It would probably be more accurate to say they lobby for the interests of the executives of the state’s largest businesses. Here’s how RIPEC describes itself.

January 23, 2014

Women’s Fund’s Marcia Coné on Reproductive Justice

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At the legislative launch for the Rhode Island Coalition for Reproductive Freedom, Marcia Coné, executive director of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, talks about the need for a bold legislative agenda to ensure the economic security of women.

“The Rhode Island Reproductive Justice Coalition is committed to addressing inequality for four lenses: conscious and faith based principles, medical, legal and economic security,” she said.

You can see Marcia Coné’s full talk here.

And learn more on reproductive justice, from: