Randall Rose
The antifa follies: why suppressing rights like free speech is a bad idea
Today, a group called Ocean State Against Hate (OSAH) is going to the State House in an effort to forcibly prevent the rightist group Resist Marxism from holding a rally. This is a sequel to a similar confrontation August 4, where OSAH managed to physically shut down Resist Marxism’s effort to inaugurate its Providence chapter […]
Help RI pass net neutrality on Tuesday
On Tuesday, net neutrality bills are getting a public hearing at the State House, and it’s a good opportunity for members of the public to speak or show support for an effort that could preserve net neutrality in Rhode Island. You can also sign an online petition in support, here. Net neutrality is the excellent […]
Time to red-flag the Red Flag Gun Bill
Hardly any state bills this year are as likely to increase racial and other discrimination as the awful Red Flag Gun Bill (H7688 and S2492), which is scheduled for a public hearing today. The bill claims to be about removing guns from people who pose an “extreme risk” of violence. However, it’s so badly written […]
How Obamacare vote connects to Trump investigation
“It seems to me that Trump is setting things up so that, if the Obamacare repeal bill fails today, he will immediately take serious steps to undermine the investigation, such as by firing Sessions.
Bills that did pass this year
A few bills did pass before Friday’s abrupt end to the legislative session… Here is a list of some of the bills that passed that I found interesting.
RI House leadership takes back ‘no amend’ rule, says unintentional
This weekend RI Future reported on a leadership-backed change to the RI House rules that would have made it nearly impossible for ordinary lawmakers to amend the leadership-backed budget in future. On Sunday afternoon, Larry Berman, spokesman for House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, walked back this change, saying that it was an inadvertent drafting error. Here […]
House leadership proposed rule change would make it harder to amend budget
The leadership of the Rhode Island House of Representatives is proposing a drastic change to the House rules which will make it nearly impossible to amend the budget that House leaders come up with. This is undemocratic and should be stopped.
Providence to vote on shady body-cameras contract
To say that TASER, the company providing the police body cameras is shady is an understatement, as its body-camera deals have been dogged with controversy around the country.
Responding to a genocidal letter against local Muslims
A Providence mosque has received a hate-filled letter saying that Trump is “going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews”. You can see the letter here. This letter of hate makes very little sense, and the author, a self-described “patriotic American”, seems to know basically nothing about American principles or about […]
How to stop the fare hikes on RI’s most vulnerable
A devastating fare hike for Rhode Island’s most vulnerable seniors and disabled people is the focus of a new budget fight. Although Rhode Island has long had a program where seniors and disabled people who have trouble affording bus trips ride free, the last year has seen efforts to end this program and charge more […]
The case for letting Trump supporters rally
Donald Trump will be holding a rally at 1pm Monday at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, and some Rhode Islanders hope to shut the rally down… My aim in this article is to argue against trying to shut down the pro-Trump rally.
How Richard Cosentino died in Providence police custody
Richard Cosentino died in the custody of Providence police on Sunday. The way the police describe his death leaves a lot of doubt. Even from the police’s story, which is pretty much the only version we have, it appears they treated him too harshly, and he didn’t need to die. Like many of those who […]
Sandra Bland didn’t kill herself
Maybe we should have known, now that people’s videos have brought more public attention to police abuse, that it wouldn’t be long before some police returned to the “She killed herself” line. An African-American woman in Texas, Sandra Bland, was found dead in jail last week. A policeman had pulled her over for not signaling […]
Insiders behind the opposition to Constitutional Convention
Like the rest of us, I’ve seen the expensive ads telling us not to vote for a constitutional convention, which is Question 3 on the ballot Tuesday. What these ads don’t say is how consistently insiders are backing the effort to stop a convention. The role of insiders has gotten far too little coverage in […]
Mattiello, Paiva-Weed both tiptoe back from 38 Studios support
Senate President Teresa Paiva-Weed and House Speaker Nick Mattiello just made a striking shift about the 38 Studios bailout, which is interesting since they both have a history of supporting the bailout. Go back to what Paiva-Weed, and former Speaker Gordon Fox, said when the 38 Studios bonds were being issued. At that time, in […]
Over 1,000 sign petition against 38 Studios bailout
On Monday June 24th, the petition against the 38 Studios bailout will be brought to the State House for a ceremonial delivery. So far, over 1,000 Rhode Islanders have signed the petition, and the number continues to grow. The petition delivery will be at 4:15pm sharp, at the Smith Street entrance to the State House. […]
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