Progress Report: 38 Studios Scoop; Localvore Recipes; Banksters vs. Liz Warren; Thanks, ALEC and Earned Media

It’s amazing some of the things we’re willing to believe … Jesus was born to a virgin, Thomas Jefferson thought all men were created equal, Reaganomics works and, the perhaps the biggest doozie of them all, that Rhode Island did its due diligence in assessing the 38 Studios deal.

For anyone still hanging onto that most recent bit of malarchy, Tim White and Ted Nesi have some news for you.

One of the most interesting aspects of their scoop is Linc Chafee’s letter to Keith Stokes about the impending deal, and Stokes’ reply – which was essentially that smarter business minds than Chafee’s had already vetted the deal … which goes to show, I think, that being successful in the free market doesn’t always – or even all that often – translate into having a flair for what works with regard to public policy.

Progressive Charlestown has been blogging about localvore recipes this week … a great idea, you guys!!

The banksters don’t want Elizabeth Warren on the Senate committee that oversees their industry. No surprise there … I wonder what the people want? And which constituency will get its way?

Dee DeQuattro lists her 12 biggest turkeys for 2012. Noticeably missing from her list is the guy she’s suing.

How small is Rhode Island? We would fit into Alaska more than 547 times! I once lived in a county in Oregon that was about four times the size of our state. And before that in an unincorporated hamlet in Northern California that only had about 200 full-time residents, but was at least twice the size of the Ocean State.

Bob Kerr reminds us of some of the Rhode Islanders we should be thankful for. And Elizabeth McNamara of EG Patch has a great piece on all the things a community journalist should be thankful for … including fast-talking editors!

Thanks to John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, local public officials will have to disclose more of the travel expenses comped to them because of their public positions. The new rule, Marion said, is a result of some shoe leather reporting by the local media.

Here’s how the ProJo reports it:

Marion said the rule request was prompted by Providence Journal reports concerning two legislators’ controversial trips.    One trip was taken by Senate Majority Leader Dominic J. Ruggerio, to a Buenos Aires, Argentina, luxury hotel last year, paid for by a New Jersey organization, the Senate President’s Forum. The other, Marion said, “was by soon-to-be former Senator Jon Brien’s travel to these conferences held by the American Legislative Exchange Council, otherwise known as ALEC.” Marion said, “In both instances, that travel wouldn’t have come to public light except for the reporting that had occurred about them.

One clarification: that was my shoe leather on the ALEC story. In an email to me this morning, Marion confirmed, “It was the Projo reporting on Ruggerio that first led us to this idea,  and RI Future’s reporting on ALEC that pushed us to make a request of the Commission.”