Progress Report: WPRO Ignores Environment; Hinckley Video Gone; Highest Paid CEO’s; RIP Gore Vidal

When I worked at WPRO, I remember everyone thinking I was some sort of freak because I would take an afternoon break to hang out on Hundred Acre Cove, the brackish tidal marsh behind the Salty Shrine on Wamponoag Trail while I thought everyone else were the freaks for not recognizing the value in this natural habitat we had right in our backyards. Similarly, I was perplexed yesterday listening to my good buddies and right wing ideologues Matt Allen and Dan Yorke perplexed as to why Barrington would consider banning plastic bags.

You guys! How can you possibly not realize the benefit of protecting our environment from pollution??? Those plastic bags are destroying Narragansett Bay … please, please, please go hang out on Hundred Acre Cove – just up stream from Barrington, by the way – before you again proclaim plastic bags more important that our natural world again.

A video showing Senate candidate Barry Hinckley saying more business people should use the political process for their own personal purposes is mysteriously gone from Youtube. Hinckley’s campaign said it has no idea what happened to the video … must be that Hudson Hinckley (remember when his video was the worst thing this campaign had to worry about?) made the call to have it pulled.

Hard not to love the way the “GoLocal Business Team” led into its story this morning on the highest paid Rhode Island CEO’s: “With the Presidential campaign being defined by a political battle over how much the 1% should pay in taxes, the AFL-CIO is weighing in with its own insights into how much corporate CEOs are paid.” But we liked the story better when we wrote it way back in April.

Speaking of taxing the rich, a new study shows that by and large Americans not only think taxing the rich is fair but also economically advantageous.

First Sakonnet Vineyards and now the Wilson’s building in Wickford? Soon enough Alex and Ani will own this entire state.

Rest in peace, Gore Vidal, the self-proclaimed populist died last night. Highly quotable, he once famously pointed out the future of politics was less substantive candidates and more like Ronny Reagan: “As the age of television progresses the Reagans will be the rule, not the exception. To be perfect for television is all a President has to be these days.” More great Gore Vidal quotes here.