David Segal
Jack Reed takes it to the banks and their regulators
There’s been a surprising dearth of coverage in the local press of Jack Reed’s exemplary work last week, as he stuck it to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) alongside Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren. Here’s a full transcript. Here’s the rub, from Dave Dayen at Salon: The vast majority of borrowers – [...]
Demand Progress on the Passing of Aaron Swartz
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Demand Progress’s Aaron Swartz. Friends and family have issued a statement and created a memorial page, here. Aaron was a dear friend, and an ideological brother in arms. As others have spoken to at great length, he was indeed a passionate advocate for access to information and [...]
Thursday: RI Jobs With Justice Awards Dinner
Jobs With Justice is scrappy, but one of the most important and effective activist organizations in Rhode Island. The campaign they helped lead in support of a living wage ordinance in Providence is one of the reasons I got involved in politics here and decided to run for City Council a decade ago. Their 16th [...]
The $80 Billion Boondoggle
The New York Times published an expose this week on Texas’s regime of business incentives, but for anybody who pays passing attention to so-called municipal and state economic development schemes, there wasn’t much news: Our states and localities are cannibalizing one another as they concoct targeted tax breaks which they use to lure corporations from [...]
Interview: The Low Anthem on the Columbus Theater
The Low Anthem are a wonderful folk rock band who tour the globe but call Providence home. This Saturday they reopen the Columbus Theater on Broadway for the first of what I hope will be many, many shows and communitarian happenings. (I’m pretty sure the last formal-ish show I saw in there was by Lightning [...]
Thurs: Chris Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg Discuss NDAA
UPDATE: Huffpo covers our detain-a-friend Facebook app and previews the Reddit discussion here. ORIGINAL: We’re organizing an “Ask Me Anything” conversation on Reddit this Thursday at noon with journalist Chris Hedges, Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg, other plaintiffs, and the lawyers in the anti-”indefinite detention” lawsuit. You’ll be able to join the conversation here. Indefinite [...]
Judge Strikes Down Indefinite Detention Law
UPDATE: Well, that was fast. Our progressive hero, ConLaw prof, former opponent of the Patriot Act, warrantless wiretapping and all that, just filed and appeal. ORIGINAL: We just won the lawsuit against Obama et al over the indefinite detention provisions of the fiscal 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. These provisions represented a blatant violation of due [...]
Convention Reflection: A Rant About Democrats
Get ready for a rant. I managed to engage in far less blogging than I’d hoped to over the course of my four days in Charlotte. Here’s what I was left with: The convention had its moments, for sure: What I heard of Elizabeth Warren was very good, certainly by the standards of what you [...]
Gayle Goldin for Senate
Please join me in supporting Gayle Goldin’s campaign for State Senate — she’s running on Providence’s East Side, inclusive of the Fox Point and Wayland Square portions of the district I used to represent. Over the course of my decade or so fighting for progressive change in Rhode Island, I’ve learned the crucial role that [...]
Demanding Progress in Charlotte at DNC
I’m en route to the Democratic Convention in Charlotte, where I’ll be doing a combination of work for Demand Progress, taking part in assorted progressive rabble-rousing, and hopefully blogging for RIFuture and the Daily Dose. Demand Progress’s efforts to secure Internet freedom language in the Republican platform were successful: Anybody abiding by the new platform [...]
Race Is On: Who Will Be the Political Party of the Net?
At Demand Progress we’ve just launched a public effort to compel the major parties to adopt Internet freedom planks as part of their party platforms. You can click here to sign our petition to the people responsible for drafting platforms. It buttresses a behind-the-scenes effort we’ve been running for a few weeks, and we’re very [...]
Right Now: Panel On Indefinite Detention Lawsuit
Sorry for the late notice, but right now (6pm) there’s a panel discussion ongoing about the lawsuit Demand Progress is helping fund in opposition to the provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act which seem to permit the military to detain citizens indefinitely without charge or trial. I’m on the panel along with several others [...]
Another Big Win for Web
Yay! Another win for the Internet. The cyber-security bill just failed to receive enough support in the Senate to proceed to a final vote. The legislation was a mess for privacy, though it was getting better because of the hard work of activists and a core group of pro-privacy senators — you can click here to [...]
Cyber-Security Vote: Big Brother Comes Knocking
There’s a push for cyber-security legislation in Congress this week and we have a chance to pressure our lawmakers to make sure that the legislation respects privacy rights and internet freedom. The House has already passed a bill, called CISPA, which had truly dreadful privacy implications: It would have trumped all existing online privacy [...]
Navy Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons Office
Without comment, just thought folks would be fascinated by the office’s logo, as noted by Spencer Ackerman today.
The Right to Protest on Providence Sidewalks
I’m really psyched that Netroots Nation will be in town next week — it’ll make for an exciting time for Providence, and will yield a welcome economic boost — the estimates are on the order of $4 million in economic activity for Rhode Island, including a nice chunk of revenue for the city in hotel [...]
Drinking Liberally Tonight (Weds)
From DL: Just wanted to put out a tickler to join us for drinks, conversation and an all around good time tomorrow at Wild Colonial. And our apologies for the duplicate messages last week, we were obviously working out some technical kinks! See you then! DL Providnece Presents Faces you should know – Feb. 22 from [...]
Jack Reed Work-Sharing Language Passes
Little fanfare, but this work-sharing legislation will (hopefully) come to make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans by creating incentives for employers roll back hours during downturns rather than lay people off wholesale. If you needed to cut payroll by 10%, the new law would make it more sensible to reduce everybody’s [...]
Netroots Nation “Grab a Booth” Contest
Netroots Nation — in Providence in June — is offering free exhibit booths and passes to a select few non-profit orgs. Sounds like being a local non-profit helps your chances: Would your nonprofit or small business like a free booth in the 2012 Netroots Nation Community and Exhibit Hall in Providence, Rhode Island? Then enter [...]
Drinking Liberally Tonight at 8pm
Some number of us will be gathering at 8pm on Wednesday at the Wild Colonial in Providence. (And we’re looking for new folks to help organize Drinking Liberally — if you’re interested, please come by and let us know.)
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