On Monday evening more than 100 people, including families with children, came to the publicly owned site desired by the Pawtucket Red Sox behind 200 Dyer St in Providence to fly kites, enjoy a concert, listen to storytellers and generally act like they “own the place.” This was the second time members of the community have descended on the parcel of land to treat the space, a mass of scrubby vegetation, dirt and pavement, like the park it was originally promised to be. Back in July the PawSox owners brought minor league baseball player Matt Spring and PawSox mascot Paws in an apparent attempt to use the event as an opportunity to sell the stadium.
This time the PawSox owners didn’t make any attempt at countering the event. This time the media showed up in force, with Channel 10 doing a live remote. The What Cheer! Brigade played four rousing selections and storytellers Len Cabral and Mark Binder (who has contributed to RI Future) entertained the crowd with stories. Kites were flown, games were played, children danced and the promise of a public park was glimpsed, if imperfectly.
The only elected official I noticed at the event was State Representative Aaron Regunburg, House District 4, on the East Side of Providence. He is opposed to building the stadium on that land.
Below are four videos of the What Cheer? Brigade, and photos from the event by Andrew Stewart and myself.
The history of Stonewall was alluded to throughout the event. But fifty feet in front of Bank of America’s procession, Ron Lewis and José Lamoso reclaimed Stonewall, centering the narrative around Sylvia Riviera and Marsha P. Johnson, two trans women of color who were the first to resist arrest on the fateful night.
Johnson and Riviera were the first to stand up against the police, and the first to be excluded from the Gay Rights movement when they were deemed unacceptable.
After Lewis and Lamoso finished speaking, PrYSM’s float showed how gender and race become criminalized, subjecting queer and trans immigrants and people of color to police violence and harassment.
#FreeNicoll is a movement aimed at securing the release of Nicoll Hernandez-Polanco, a trans woman from Guatemala who traveled to the United States seeking asylum. Ms. Hernandez-Polanco was detained in an all-male wing for six months between her arrival in October 2014 and her bonded release on April 22nd, 2015. As a result of this placement, she experienced abuse from her male guards, including offensive comments and gestures. Hernandez-Polanco has stated that she experienced multiple incidents of being groped by the prison staff. Her $3000 bond was gathered by a successful crowdfunding effort. Her asylum request was granted after she was released. However, Justice Department statistics show that less than six percent of the asylum applications received in Fiscal Year 2015 were granted.
The detention of Ms. Hernandez-Polanco illustrates major shortcomings with the State Department’s LGBT policies. Her asylum request was granted after six months of pressure from immigration and trans activists. However, the State Department has not issued any guidance specific to transgender asylum seekers. Five months prior to Ms. Hernandez-Polanco’s detention, the State Department issued a press release detailing its position on LGBT rights issues. However, the listed policy objectives were primarily limited to lobbying foreign governments to decriminalize same-sex conduct between consenting adults. This stated policy does not address the myriad of legal issues and governmental abuses that are specific to transgender people, including detention policies, access to medical care, and policies to change name and legal gender assignment. While the State Department had implemented a LGBT training program for personnel managing refugees and asylum seekers as of May 2014; this training program was only mandatory for new hires. It is not clear how many of the personnel in the Arizona office, where Hernandez-Polanco arrived, had received this training.
However, the US government’s lack of trans-specific guidelines and accountability affects many other government agencies. TSA screening policies require all passengers to submit to some form of security screening. Passengers can choose between the TSA’s Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines, which image the body electronically, or undergoing a pat-down examination. However, both of these present specific challenges to the transgender community. The TSA has upgraded the current inventory of AIT machines with automated threat detection software after years of lobbying by privacy advocates. Previous technology presented a TSA officer with explicit imagery of the passenger’s body, including breasts and genitalia. According to the TSA, the automated systems are capable of detecting specific threats (for example, an object shaped like a gun or a knife) and then overlaying this threat on a generic human outline. However, the system requires the operator to enter the sex of the passenger.
For some transgender people, this may result in genital and breast areas registering as “anomalies,” requiring invasive examination by a TSA officer. This can also be caused by body-shaping garments such as binders, which are commonly used in the trans community to reduce the size and appearance of breasts.
The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) has collected data on the experiences of transgender passengers as part of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS). The survey showed almost 20% of transgender people have experienced harassment or disrespect associated with security or other check-in processes. The TSA has created a training program addressing trans issues. However, this program is intended for use only by individuals tasked with passenger support, not by the screening officers themselves.
Next, the float addressed the realities of police violence and profiling, as experienced by queer and trans people of color.
Throughout 2015, far too many youth of color have had their names become hashtags as they are the latest victims of police violence. Jessie Hernandez was a 16 year old queer Latina who was killed by a police officer. Over the last year, the LGBT community has publicly mourned the tragic suicides of those who were lost. Leelah Alcorn’s death was observed, though often the response was dominated by the non-trans majority in the LGBT world. However, it is necessary to acknowledge the tragedy of LGBT youth killed by police violence.
Police profiling is a major concern for trans women of color, who are profiled and subject to detainment as perceived sex workers. In Phoenix, Arizona, a campaign has been built around Monica Jones, a Black trans women who was arrested under Phoenix’s “manifesting prostitution” ordinance. Jones’ conviction was vacated in January 2015 when it was determined that she did not receive a fair trial. The ACLU and local activists have decried the ordinance, which criminalizes intent to sell sex. The ordinance defines “engaging passer-by in conversation” and “asking if someone is a police officer” as intent, even though there are many other contexts in which these actions could occur. In this case, the arrest is made at the discretion of the officer, and the officer’s prejudices.
Jones’ trial brought media attention to the profiling experienced by trans women of color. In this case, Jones was brought to trial. However, this suspicion of being a sex worker provides probable cause to question and temporarily detain trans women of color, and is hardly limited to Arizona.
DARE and PrYSM collaborated to draw attention to the Community Safety Act, a multi-faceted proposed law addressing community concerns about policing. The law contains provisions to ensure all police-citizen interactions are recorded, and that these recordings are available to the public. Having all stops documented would show whether or not Providence police were profiling trans women of color as sex workers. Furthermore, the law contains language to establish protocols during traffic stops, and define protocols for tracking individuals as part of a list of suspected gang members.
Finally, the march demanded accountability for the deaths and suffering of queer and transgender people of color.
Rest in Power is a call to mourning and a call to action. Before a death is mourned, many times the deceased must be reclaimed from a media bent on misgendering trans people, or engaging in character assassination against people of color killed by police.
The theme for the 2015 Pride march was “indiVISIBLE”. In the President’s welcome message, RI Pride President Kurt Bagley compared drew parallels between the efforts to advance LGBT equality with the uprisings in Ferguson, MO and Baltimore, MD. The appeal to justice is romantic, but these simplistic comparisons ignore the efforts of queer and trans activists of color. Pride, as an organization, is quick to appeal to Stonewall’s revolutionary nature, centered around resisting police brutality and profiling. Unfortunately, the LGBT community is quick to disavow the police violence experienced today by queer and trans people of color.
Boston’s 2015 Pride March was disrupted by a group called Boston Pride Resistance. A sit it was held, blocking the parade route for eleven minutes. The eleven minute duration was chosen to recognize the lives of the eleven trans women of color murdered, to date, in 2015. Using the hashtag #WickedPissed (a counterpart to #WickedProud), the group demanded greater inclusion of queer and trans people of color. Over a decade after Massachusetts legalized same sex marriage, the group drew attention to inequalities still experienced by LGBT people.
Ten years after Stonewall, activists such as Marsha P. Johnson recalled how the gay rights movement had become less radical. Even before Stonewall, early American gay rights groups such as the Mattachine Society were quick to adopt policies of assimilation. Across the country, middle-class, white gay people are awaiting a verdict in Obergefell v. Hodges, which is hoped to make marriage equality the law of the land. But for the queer and trans activists fighting against the criminalization of race, gender, and poverty, marriage equality is a victory for a different world. If Rhode Island’s LGBT community is to be truly “indiVISIBLE”, it must first acknowledge these struggles. If President Bagley is seeking the revolutionary spirit of Stonewall, 1969, he will find it in Providence, 2015, with direct action movements challenging over-policing and police violence almost fifty years later.
]]>Our goal could be to intentionally make our small state an expensive place to do business in, but make it worth every penny.
For every dollar in taxes paid, our citizens would reap benefits. The purpose of commerce is to support the people, not the reverse.
How could this come about?
It begins with the governor, speaker and senate president declaring that no longer will our state subsidize and pander to business.
Instead, we will insist that corporations, like citizens, contribute to the well being of our communities.
No longer will we bribe businesses with cash and tax cuts. Our government will take its share and use it wisely.
Money will be spent on those things that Government can do well, when it is not gasping for cash: improve the roads, build statewide infrastructures, contribute to the education of its citizens, protect our environment, and provide for public safety.
Our polity cannot predict or gamble on the industries of the future. Likewise, we must not allow ourselves to be cowed into beggardom by greedy national and international corporations.
We are a small and lovely state in a prime location on the East Coast. We have the wealth of the sea at our doorstep. Because of past failures, we are severely undervalued, yet those of us who have lived here for a long time know that this truly is a marvelous place, a home to live in for an entire life.
Of course there are problems in our body politic. No human system is perfect, but it is insane to funnel millions from taxpayers into for-profit businesses, or to cut taxes for large corporations to “encourage growth” or “attract jobs”. The wealthy have learned that the threat of scarcity prods politicians to fork over money from citizens. Failures are rarely blamed on the businesses, which have banked their gold, but on the politicians.
Rhode Island will never thrive if we depend on companies that require payoffs and “incentives.” It is illegal for a United States citizen to pay bribes in other countries, but here in Rhode Island campaign contributions and bills that grease a bottom line are considered legal and even necessary.
It is no longer acceptable.
The spigot from gambling is about to thin as more casinos open nearby. We cannot afford to give a single dollar to underwrite someone else’s profit margin. Our government is notoriously bad at picking “winners.”
We must begin tooting our horn, not in our own backyard, but around the world. We have natural beauty, localized industry, centers of higher education, a diverse population, and restaurants and arts that are world-class. No more government handouts for businesses. No more racing to the bottom to underbid our wealthy neighbors.
We will point to our resources: citizens who are eager for work, a coastline that inspires, deep water ports, real estate that is reasonably priced, and a long history of innovation in design, education, manufacturing and reinvention.
We will loudly disavow the efforts of the one percent to leach off the work of the average citizen, while simultaneously nullifying the powers of government to improve the common lot.
Our state can willingly offer companies an easier path to regulation and licensing, modification to roads, worker-training schemes in community colleges. We can rebuild our urban schools so that companies can feel comfortable knowing that their workers can accept reasonable wages and send their children to public schools.
We can acknowledge the shifts that climate change and global warming are likely to bring, and plan future building and growth carefully.
These changes will not see a quick stampede of business toward our shores.
Given our history of corruption, it will take time for them to believe. During that time, our government will have no choice but to learn to do more with less, to increase efficiency and eliminate redundancy and waste. We must continue to protect those who have little, and resist the idea that poverty is sin and an inescapable trap. We must teach our children for their benefit, not for the profit of an increasingly corporate education industry. We can encourage our existing small businesses to grow with confidence knowing that they’re getting the same fair treatment as the giants.
We only need to stop begging and bribing and change our philosophy.
Our new slogan could simply be, “Rhode Island: you want to be here.”
Now we must work to make it so.
©2015 by Mark Binder
393 Morris Avenue
Providence, RI 02906
(401) 272-8707
mark@markbinder.com
Gordon Fox is guilty, and I’m not surprised. I’m the guy who ran against the former Rhode Island speaker of the House in 2012. From the first days of our campaign, I pointed to the corruption that seems endemic in Rhode Island’s political structure.
At the time, nobody seemed to believe me. They denied it was happening. They made excuses. They said that it was just the way things are.
Many politicians who are still in office turned out to support Fox. They campaigned for him. They walked with him. They stood in front of the polls on Election Day and told voters to vote for him. They felt at the time that the status quo was better than advocating change.
The media were also complicit. During the campaign, I was faulted again and again for not being a serious politician. I was belittled for keeping my campaign grassroots and not raising a war chest. They dismissed the pay-to-play connections we drew between campaign contributions from the auto body industry and votes cast.
Our very own RI Future said that Fox was “by no means a dark force or a dirty politician. … On the contrary, he’s a good man trying to succeed in an often cutthroat business.” RIPR’s Scott MacKay bluntly opined, “…anyone who believes that Binder can get nearly as much done for the capital city as Fox, arguably the state’s most powerful politician, must believe that elephants can fly.” The pigs started flying when Fox resigned in March of 2013.
And nothing much has changed. Campaigns are still decided, by and large, by who raises the most money. Campaign contributions buy political influence in Rhode Island. Licenses are granted, tax breaks are given and issues are decided when you give contributions to the right politicians.
During the 2012 campaign, Gordon Fox lied. He lied to the press. He lied to the voters. Now he’s admitted his guilt.
He’s confessed to stealing more than $100,000 from his campaign fund, filing fraudulent tax returns, and taking a bribe for a liquor license. If you or I were charged with these offences, we would be facing decades in federal prison. Instead, he’s copped a plea in exchange for three years — one year per charge. It doesn’t seem sufficient.
In Rhode Island, voters have a bad habit of keeping people around who don’t deserve it. We brush away fault and blame, and shrug because “It’s the ways the system works.”
The system still doesn’t work for citizens and taxpayers. Since being anointed as speaker, Nicholas Mattiello has collected more than $100,000 in campaign contributions, even though he ran unopposed in the last election. Do those dollars really buy nothing?
When will this change? How will this change?
The General Assembly could police itself. It could eject members who accept campaign contributions that influence their votes. It could end the practice of late night back room deals. It could enact ethics and campaign finance reform.
We could create a smaller full-time legislature that pays members a living wage so they don’t have to be wealthy or take bribes to survive.
Will they? Probably not.
The next election is in 20 months. We need citizens to start running today for these jobs on the promise of these changes. It’s time to stop voting for the devil we know and instead look for people who are honest and true.
During a televised debate, Gordon Fox accused me of telling tall tales. I didn’t. He was the liar.
Keep that in mind the next time you see an “amateur” taking on a pro.
– Mark Binder, Providence, March 2015
See Fox Lie…
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The Providence city council seat for ward 3 appears to be suddenly in play. Economic development consultant and leadership author Marcus Mitchell is gathering support for a write-in campaign against previously unchallenged incumbent Kevin Jackson. And it looks like Mitchell can win.
Mitchell was the founding president of the Providence Community Library and has been a longtime Mt. Hope activist. This activism gives him significant traction in the all-important precinct 2818 that includes the Camp Street neighborhood. But even more importantly, he is married to Lynette Lopes, the daughter of former city councilor Danny Lopes. The Lopes clan enjoys significant influence on Camp Street and could play a pivotal role in winning votes for Mitchell.
Targeting a longtime foe
Kevin Jackson is not well-liked in much of ward 3 nor on the left in general. He is co-chair of Buddy Cianci’s 2014 mayoral campaign and boasts the ethics record to justify that position. He currently ranks #13 on the Board of Elections’ list of violators with more than $30,000 in unpaid fines for failure to file campaign finance reports.
Most on the left have long assumed that Jackson’s core of support in precinct 2818 would protect him from challenges from the hard-core liberal precincts farther up Hope Street. I live in one of these precincts, and I have actually said the words, “If I thought I could beat Kevin Jackson on Camp Street, I would run against him.”
Precinct 2818 put Gordon Fox over the top against challenger Mark Binder in 2012. Our takeaway was that this is The Machine’s stronghold, and that Jackson could marshall these forces just as Fox had.
We were wrong.
More bad news for Jackson
Marcus Mitchell is an experienced business and civic leader; he knows how to make things happen. And he knows how to decide whether it’s wise even to try to make something happen. Thus, he commissioned a professional poll to assess the situation; the results were a shock.
After 20 years on the city council, Kevin Jackson enjoys stunningly low support in ward 3. Mitchell’s poll asked, in essence “Does Kevin Jackson deserve to be reelected?” Only 16.9% said Jackson should be reelected versus 41.2% for electing someone new. 16.9% is not a large number. Even worse, on the initial question of Jackson vs. Mitchell (before message testing), Mitchell wins by a narrow margin. After message testing—the campaign violations and association with Cianci—it’s all over. Mitchell wins by 60 points. SIXTY!
Given that Jackson’s perceived stronghold on Camp Street will at best split 50/50 and that he is loathed in the other three precincts, Ward 3’s ability accurately to spell M-A-R-C-U-S M-I-T-C-H-E-L-L could decide whether Kevin Jackson is looking for a new job in 2015.
Here’s Mitchell in action after a victory for the Providence Community Library. It’s Game On in ward 3.
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Political endorsements ain’t what they used to be. If Donald Trump can issue endorsements and have people take them seriously, I figured…what the heck?
Herewith, my endorsements (i.e., people for whom I will vote) for select state-wide and GA races. I also add some one-liners at the end for GA candidates in districts other than my own. Unsurprisingly, virtually all endorsements are for the Democratic primary on September 9, 2014, which everybody knows is far more important than the general election in November.
Note: These endorsements solely represent my own opinion. They in no way represent the opinion of RI Future or its owners, editors and other contributors.
Angel Taveras for Governor
Typically, that right there is empty political blather, but if you’ve been around Providence over the past four years, you know it’s 100% real.Unlike the Providence mayoral primary, there is a real upside to getting the right Democratic candidate here, and a real downside to getting the wrong one. As mayor, Angel Taveras has proven himself a strong leader who can make the hard decisions.
Taveras inherited an absolute financial disaster, far worse than anybody in the campaign expected. The $110mm structural deficit stunned everybody. But Taveras made several crucial moves that let him and the city council craft a path back to stability. Specifically, he negotiated tough pension and union contract reforms by putting himself in the position of being the first to sacrifice.
That is, HE AND HIS OFFICE were first in line for the haircuts. There was not a lot that the other departments could do except take their hats off and sit down in the barber’s chair. As a result, the deal stuck, and the city could move on to other important issues.
Gina Raimondo, by contrast, has proven a disaster as treasurer. Her pension reform, so wildly applauded by the Wall Street Journal and other business allies, has spun out of control. It was so badly constructed that multiple rounds of mediation could not stop aggrieved pensioners from litigating.
It is the height of hypocrisy to claim that Raimondo created a pension deal. THERE IS NO DEAL.
This is what happens when a person accustomed to giving orders needs to work with others as co-equals (as Taveras did). Business people—that is, BOSSES—make for poor public servants. A good executive in the private sector makes a bad executive in the public sector.
In the nightmare scenario of a Raimondo administration, we should brace ourselves for ongoing class warfare. And because the state will remain mired in this conflict, we will not be able to address the actual issues facing us, like healing the economy and the ecology.
That connection between economy and ecology was front-and-center at Greg Gerritt‘s 60th birthday party / one-day conference last October. Somewhere around 100 practitioners, educators and activists that work in the “econo-logical industries,” if you will, convened at the Pawtucket Armory to learn and share.
Both Raimondo and Taveras dropped by, even though neither was a declared candidate. Later, I asked around about Raimondo…”Why is a venture capitalist speaking to a bunch of socialists? Does she have roots in this community?”
The answer I got was basically unanimous:
She’s laying down Astro-turf. She’s a 1-percenter. I don’t trust her.
Now she’s claiming herself to be a progressive. I ain’t buying’ it.
On Clay Pell…who is this guy? I personally find it insulting that some scion of the power class who married a minor celebrity feels he can waltz in from the federal structure and instantly be an effective governor. How about you put in a term in the GA and let people get to know you a little?
Jorge Elorza for Mayor of Providence
Where the governor’s race could have catastrophic consequences should the forces of light and goodness not prevail, the race for mayor of Providence fills me with hope for the future. Each of the three major candidates brings strong credentials and will likely make a good mayor.
I endorse Jorge Elorza for two reasons. First, I believe that more newcomers in office is exactly what Providence needs. (Although, it may prove unfortunate to lose Michael Solomon’s experience and leadership on the city council.) And while he’s new to elected office, he is not a newcomer to the city or the state. He has built a strong campaign team, attracting the kind of young leaders that can continue the work that Taveras has started.
More importantly, I endorse Elorza because his life experience better prepares him to deal with a troubling increase in violence, particularly on the South Side. Elorza grew up in a tough place going through tough times, and he prevailed where many of his peers did not. His performance at the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence candidate’s forum drove this home.
As a native of this city’s West End neighborhood who speaks fluent, near-native Spanish but also holds a law degree and has worked within the justice apparatus, Elorza is best-positioned to work with law enforcement and community groups to bring down the level of tension and violence.
Aaron Regunberg for RI House of Reps, District 4
This is my district, and it has seen some very difficult days, at least politically. The growing distrust in Gordon Fox exploded after his stunning failures in the 2010 and 2011 sessions, enabling Mark Binder to nearly beat him in 2012.
The FBI were nice enough to prove out our distrust by raiding then-Speaker Fox’s home and offices. Well, you know the story.
This race for the open seat illustrates the important choice Rhode Islanders face. Do we want true progressive reform or do we want yet more half-hearted and easily co-opted alleged liberals? Readers know my answer to that and should rightly expected this endorsement. Aaron Regunberg, it the tradition of David Segal and Chris Blazejewski, is bright, young, eager and committed.
Unlike the other two candidates, he has built strong connections with young people and communities of color. As a founder of the Providence Student Union, he has helped students at Hope High fend off the worst of the corporatist educational “reforms” touted by the other two candidates.
Miriam Ross seems a female version of Gordon Fox: a business-oriented lawyer ready to cater to the already powerful at the expense of the less-fortunate.
Heather Tow-Yick isa product of Teach for America, the epitome of wrong-headed educational reform. TfA works from the assumption that poor performance in inner-city schools comes from poorly-trained teachers and not from the OBVIOUS, GLARING INEQUITIES opportunity and support that burden the students that struggle the most.
If you’re a progressive, this one is a no-brainer.
Gayle Goldin for RI Senate, District 3
Again, my district, and again, a no-brainer. Goldin is a US immigrant, who learned English as a second language. She has worked her entire career in social service non-profits, primarily in the areas of health and wellness for children, women and the disadvantaged.
Her opponent, Chris Wall, is among the power elites. A former TV news talker, he’s worked as press secretary for a state cabinet officer and sells real estate in a major way. He’s all about the business and comes off like a jock.
I’m sure that TPV would prefer dude-bro in her chamber rather than Ms. Goldin. For that reason alone, it must be Gayle in Senate 3.
One-Line Endorsements
Each person listed below is a first-time candidate at the state level. I can’t cast a ballot for any of these folks, but if I could, I’d elect:
David Fasteson, Senate 22—Good guy and hardest-working first time candidate EVAH vs. ex-cop and political repeat offender. (Sierra Club got this one wrong!)
Jennifer Siciliano, House 22—Woonsocket city planner with genuine progressive cred vs. scion of the power elite who’s only ever worked for the GA.
Doris De los Santos, Senate 7—Latina policy wonk vs. old, white lawyer who’s run unopposed more than he’s faced challengers in his six terms.
Margaux Morisseau, Senate 21—Woonsocket non-profit leader with genuine progressive cred vs. A REPUBLICAN!
Shelby Maldonado, House 56—New CF vs old CF…’nuff said.
Carlos Tobon, House 58—Not the most progressive Democrat vs. incumbent that often fails to vote and voted against marriage equality
Note: The second and third paragraphs in the section on Jorge Elorza were inverted in the original version. The author corrected the error approximately 6pm on the day of publication.
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Last week I wrote an op-ed in response to Mike Stenhouse’s op-ed Left won’t defend failed RI Policies lambasting Tom Sgouros and Sam Bell .
My first draft went to the Providence Journal, but the conversation with the editor didn’t go well for a variety of reasons.
Next I sent it to GoLocalProv with the intention of it being the first of a series of weekly columns. I made the mistake of sending an invoice to GoLocal, and evidently the idea of paying for content was so far out of the framework, that they immediately removed the article.
I’m not saying this is my best piece of work. But it does reflect my thinking these days.
I believe that people are more important than corporations, that government’s job isn’t to prop-up business interests and who also think that the system of our government needs repair. Enjoy the article. Too bad you can’t read the slew of negative comments that popped up on GoLocal.
– Mark Binder
Government FOR the People
Enough about Left versus Right and Liberal or Progressive versus Conservative. Mike Stenhouse is a shill for the wealthy, who thinks that his ideas and opinion should be treated as gospel.
I’m not sure if I’m a leftist, a liberal, or a progressive. I know there’s waste in government: just look how much education funding has been funneled into the testing industry and how many dollars enable cars rather than RIPTA.
Stenhouse claims that the left won’t defend failed RI policies, damned right. Because the State government’s policies aren’t “left” policies, they’re just lame. Our State is run by a pair of appointed “leaders”, who bully our elected legislators, who are funded and buffaloed by corporate lobbiests and are too poorly paid to fight for the interests of citizens. At the same time, Stenhouse and his band of so-called experts spout nonsense, ignore facts and “chuckle” when faced with inconvenient truths.
Let’s lay it out. There is a myth created by followers of Reagan and Rove that cutting taxes will create jobs. It’s bull. We know because we’ve tried it. We’ve seen corporations outsource manufacturing and cut retail price by lowering wages, driving out small businesses, and putting the cost of underpaid employee health care on taxpayers. Then they wonder why nobody’s trained for a “job.”
Here’s what happens when you cut taxes. You also have to cut services and funding for transportation and funding for education. You get a race to the bottom, with municipalities and states trying to “attract” businesses that pit government against government and move on when the next best deal comes. (Hello New London.)
Our government stinks at “job creation.” (Hello 38 Studios.) In the old days, when a politician was running for election, he (not she) created jobs to get votes. This is effective politically, but produces bloat and inefficiency. The job of government is to protect the people and to organize projects that benefit the people.
Now, though, billionaires and multinational corporations fund non-profits and hire consultants to sway the rhetoric. Remember how staunchly George W. Bush denied climate change? (Hello, Matunuck.)
But enough about “them.” Let’s talk about what we, the people, really want.
We want more money for public education so that we can hire more teachers, because the single most important factor in improving learning is the ratio of students to teachers. At the same time, we want to create a testing policy that helps teachers assess students, not one that puts fear in the heart of educators and learners.
We want more money for public and alternative transportations. Europe and Japan had high taxes on petrol for years while we laughed and drove. Now they’ve got rail systems and lead in energy efficiency. We’ve made little progress since the so-called “energy crisis” of the 1970s.
We want corporations to pay to keep our environment clean, not sweep regulation aside to make it easier for them to pollute.
We want universal healthcare, not a bloated compromise designed to keep insurance corporations and non-profit boards fat and healthy.
We want our government to raise taxes so we can stop the borrowing that funnels citizens’ money to investors who manipulate bond ratings to get the best deals.
Don’t cut taxes on the arts and pretend that everybody’s going to run out and buy a painting. This is a benefit for the wealthy. And then, because the arts aren’t generating revenue, don’t push for a so-called bond issue that’s going to be run by the renamed EDC. If government believes that arts generate revenue, increase funding for the arts!
Don’t even consider the pathetic pleas from real estate interests (hello Superman building) to borrow money to bail them out. And face the truth that rebuilding in a flood zone is building on sand.
We want the wealthy to pay more, exactly because their fair share isn’t the same as the poor’s fair share.
And we want the opposition to stop ignoring facts, figures and realities.
My company published Tom Sgouros’s most recent book, “Checking the Banks” because it explains in simple terms how banks and investments firms scam governments. One of the tactics of Stenhouse and his lot is to ignore the facts and restate dogma.
When Tom debated Stenhouse’s out-of-state expert, he realized that the man knew nothing of the actual history, facts and policies of Rhode Island. Tom didn’t say that those failures were good things. Checking the Banks> suggests that rather than borrowing, our taxpayers would do better if Rhode Island created its own internal bank. But the chuckleheads laughed, and then swiped some of the copies of the book that Tom had for sale.
That’s exactly the challenge that honorable human beings face. Wealthy people aren’t satisfied with what they have. They want to us begging for scraps. They blame us for laziness and waste and then steal even more from those of us who are trying to make a living.
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He exposed the illegal campaign tactics of the NRA. He leads the Progressive Democrats of Rhode Island. He’s a frequent contributor to this blog. And – hopefully – next Sam Bell will add to his resume state representative from District 4. With news that soon-to-be-former House Speaker Gordon Fox won’t be seeking re-election, Bell has announced he will run for Fox’s old seat.
“Our state needs a fresh Democratic voice on Smith Hill,” said Bell in a widely distributed press release. “As Representative, I’ll fight to invest in our schools and our workforce, and I’ll be an unfailing advocate for transparency and sunlight at the State House.”
Bell has been a frequent critic of conservative Democrats on Smith Hill. Most recently he called attention to the austerity ideas being put forward by Gina Raimondo and as well as by legislative Democrats to pay for the Sakonnet River Bridge. But he is best known for exposing the NRA’s “illicit” political action committee activity. Bell learned their practice was illegal and the NRA paid a $63,000 fine, which he says is the second largest campaign fine in state history.
“I’m glad to have stood up for the people of Rhode Island against the powerful, out-of-state gun lobby,” he said in his statement. “I’ll continue to protect my constituents against the forces of special interests on Smith Hill.
And Bell will likely be the only RI Future contributor vying for the District 4 seat at the State House. Mark Binder, who challenged Fox in 2012 and occasionally posts to RI Future, indicated he will NOT run again in an email to supporters today.
“Let me be blunt,” he wrote. “Any representative who votes for the sort of “Leadership” that enabled Gordon Fox to abuse his power is betraying the interests of citizens. We, the people of Rhode Island did not elect you to submit to the whims of lobbyists and special interests and corporations. We elected you to serve the people.
“For too long the political conversation has been framed by special interests. The purpose of our State Government is not to create jobs, however much that may be a method for getting votes. The purpose of our State Government is to create an environment where people can live and work and thrive. This means protecting our landscape and natural resources, paying for education that teaches beyond tests, and offering powerful reasons for people to live and work here.”
Ed. note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said Binder would run due. He is not.
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Coming soon to your winter reading list: Tom Sgouros’ second book.
His first book focused on conservative mythology about the Ocean State, and this time the RI Future contributor and well-respected progressive policy analyst sets his sites on a national level with a look into the banking industry. It’s called, ‘Checking The Banks: The Nuts and Bolts of the Banking System for the People Who Want to Fix It.”
He calls it “a primer on banking language and practices… a modest list of useful concepts, a discussion of how banks work, and how they fail, as well as some suggestions for new institutions that might help make change.”
Sgouros uses his talent for making complex subjects easier to understand
The growth of banks from small institutions to large has had profound effects on all of us, not the least because of the necessary change in strategies to manage banking risk. When a bank makes a loan, it takes a risk that the loan may not be repaid. Banking is fundamentally about managing that risk, and other risks associated with the enterprise. But there are many ways to manage a risk. One way is to get to know your borrowers, to assess their needs, perhaps even to help them repay the loan with the occasional extension or refinance. In the case of a business loan, a bank could sometimes ease risk through introducing the borrower to potential customers for his or her businesses. Another way to manage risk is simply to find someone else to assume it. One way manages risk by reducing it; the other simply foists it onto a sucker.
But he not only points out the problems the banking industry faces, he also offers solutions with chapters on regulations, starting a bank, government funding, public banks and credit unions, among other ideas.
Traditionally, starting a bank is something for rich investors to do, but there are plenty of others out there who have the capaicty to have an impact on our financial system…
The book, published by Light Publications, a Providence company owned and operated by Mark Binder, will be available commercially in the near future.
]]>—Mark Binder, Summer, 2013
The Narragansett Indians called it “Clths Slaaag,” which Rhode Island’s founder Roger Williams translated as “The Old One.”
Roger Williams joked about it in his diary journal.
“After a sparse meal of fish and corn, Cannonicus, the Sachem, warned me not to build my home on the hill. He said that was where ‘The Old One,’ a horrific monster, lived and fed. His vivid description reminded me of the demonic stories told by Popish priests to cow the superstitious. Most probably a rabid bear.”
Roger Williams was wrong. Seventeen years later, his second son, Elijah mysteriously vanished and was discovered three days later at the mouth of a cave concealed by a fallen apple tree. The boy’s hair and skin had turned white. Three fingers on his left hand were gone, as if they had been gnawed off. Elijah had lost his mind and never spoke again.
Roger Williams’ heart was broken. He spent much of the rest of his life abroad in England. A scrap of paper with a crude drawing of an anchor
In 1860 when his bones were dug from the family plot to be re-interred beneath his statue in Prospect Park, the popular story was that an apple tree had eaten through his corpse, and the roots had taken the shape of his leg bones. The truth was much darker.
In his diary, Stephen Randall, a witness wrote,
“The stench that emitted from the opened grave was beyond imagining. There lay Roger Williams, looking as well-preserved as the day he was interred. Yet his eyes were open, his mouth peeled back baring his teeth in a rictus of horror. When Elder Brown bent down to close the poor man’s eyes, the body disintegrated into thousands of wriggling worms. Those who were present fled, and when we returned all that remained were the roots of the apple tree, looking strangely like a leg bone.”
Moses Brown discovered the mangled corpse of a slave girl in the basement of his East Side Home in 1773. No one knew who she was or how she had died,
Brown wrote,
“The corpse’s condition was appalling. Her back was scarred with lines that John said betrayed the excessive use of a lash, but reminded me of both the jagged tares rendered by an animal’s claw and the infected ruin of a child caught in a wave of jellyfish tentacles.”
A short time later, Moses Brown freed his slaves and began working for abolition.
Edgar Allen Poe, the author, was the next to write of the thing that lived beneath the Hill. In the margin of the original manuscript for the famous poem, “The Raven”
Poe wrote in a crabbed hand,
“Only in the form of a black bird I can indicate the monstrosity. I have tried again and again to describe the Old One, but language fails me, and the words I use seem unnatural and unreal.”
Following his failed courtship of Sarah Helen Power (Whitman), Poe spent weeks wandering up and down Benefit Street in a laudanum-induced haze. Many say that he never recovered.
The most direct references to the creature came from Howard Phillips Lovecraft, who is still famous for his horrific tales of the Necronomicon and “The Great Old Ones” with unpronounceable names. Lovecraft lived most of his life on Providence’s East Side, at the tip of a triangle between the land near where Elijah Williams was discovered, and the basement of Moses’s Brown’s house.
“…that cellar in our childhood house was my constant nightmare,” Lovecraft wrote to his brother Peter near the end of his life. “While you and Emily laughed and played, I peered into the darkness. I fear that soul-destroying blackness corrupted me somehow.”
More recently, on May 1, 1993, a party thrown by a group of Rhode Island School of Design Students in an abandoned train tunnel ended in horror.
The Providence Journal reported that, “After the tear gas and pepper spray cleared, police found thirteen naked students, their backs bleeding as if they had been struck with a whip. One girl was dead. Police have no suspects, but report the probability of drug abuse.”
(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Side_Railroad_Tunnel)
In 2003, when more than 30 house cats were reported missing, the Providence Journal attributed the disappearances to a coyote roaming the neighborhood, yet suggested that “small pets and children remain inside after dark.” In 2009, three homeless men who had been reportedly sleeping under a nearby bridge were also declared missing, by the police, but “presumed to have left the state.:
An article in an alternative The Agenda suggested in 2006 that the changing landscape of the City was bringing the horror to the surface.
“The rivers have been uncovered, a highway is shifting, and a billion dollar project has dug underground sewage overflow tanks beneath the hills where Roger Williams once planted his crops. What else have the construction crews dug up?”
—The Agenda
Shortly afterwards, the sidewalk behind the First Baptist Church in America on Benefit Street began to disintegrate and cave in. It took several years to effect the repairs on the sidewalk and fence behind the First Baptist Church.
A city contractor reported in a brief memo that has since gone missing, “…every time we tried to fill it, the sinkhole beneath Benefit Street would fill with slimy brown ichor. We finally had to lay in rebar and cement in layers going down fifteen feet. It is possible that the missing day worker fell in and wasn’t noticed, but I doubt it.”
Even now, week after week, at WaterFire in Providence bonfires are lit in the river and haunting music is played while tens of thousands of people wander through the smoke as an ancient ceremony is reborn and recreated.
Less than six months ago, the mutilated body of a missing Brown University student was found in at the site of an old Narragansett burial ground. The details were hushed up, photographs of his corpse were deleted and television cameras were kept far from the scene.
When asked to comment bout the rumors that these and the other events documented in this article were the work of the Old One, the Mayor refused to answer. “This was clearly the work of a sick human being,” he said. “We have far more pressing problems in this city in terms of education and infrastructure. Don’t bother me about this nonsense.”
Have the shifting lands disturbed the creature? Are the fires and the people drawing the monster closer, bringing it nearer and nearer to the surface?
It is hard to tell with all the noise. But if you listen carefully, as you wander the darkened streets of Providence late at night, perhaps you will hear a sound, a soft and slurping sound, as if a moistened finger was caressing the cartilage next to your ear.
If you hear this sound, do not stop. Do not turn around. Do not scream. It feeds on fear and despair.
Enjoy your breath. It may be your last.
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Mark Binder’s latest books are works of fiction: Cinderella Spinderella – an illustrated ebook for families coming September 2013, and The Brothers Schlemiel
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