Does RI Have What it Takes to Create a Life Sciences Industry?

Creating A Life Sciences Cluster in Rhode Island Rhode Island House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi has an excellent idea: try to replicate in Rhode Island the life sciences ecosystem enjoyed by their neighbor up north in Cambridge, Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts. This is an excellent idea because, as the trade association for the biotechnology industry in […]

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Not-So-Hidden Schemes

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for April 12, included talk about:

  • Still waiting on the LG
  • McKee’s Saturday climate signing in Newport
  • The big-money RI Foundation
  • The big-money Warwick firefighter overtime
  • Voting bills
  • Providence schools still in a lurch

I’ll be on again Monday, April 19, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

No Cost Projections or Means Identified to Achieve Rhode Island’s Green New Deal

The innocently named “2021 Act on Climate”, H5445, has been ominously rocketing through the General Assembly. It passed the full House on March 23 and the full Senate is scheduled to vote on it this afternoon. If it passes, it will have cleared the General Assembly and presumably be sent straight on to Governor Daniel McKee for his action within seven (ten?) days.

Informally dubbed “Rhode Island’s Green New Deal”, H5445 would mandate the reduction to zero by 2050 of greenhouse gases in Rhode Island – a goal that could only be accomplished by eliminating the use of all fossil fuels and transitioning entirely to renewable energy sources, wind and solar; i.e., from reliable, reasonably priced energy sources to intermittent, exorbitantly expensive ones. More about it here, including why the effective date of substantial implementation would be 2026, not thirty long years from now.

But perhaps we are missing something. Have proponents of the bill answered the critically important question about cost of implementation?

Civics Bill Misfire

Stanley Kurtz has written on National Review Online about the Republican-led bill currently in Rhode Island’s General Assembly to require a pernicious form of civics education in Ocean State public schools.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: RI’s Con-Game Government

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 29, included talk about:

  • The Lt. Gov. final 5
  • Climate change politics
  • Kate Coyne McCoy’s threat to “moderate” Dems
  • Cranston’s new far-left Republican
  • Can the log-jam of Providence’s school system be broken up?
  • Were we wrong to doubt Mattiello as the firewall?

I’ll be on again Monday, April 5, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

Tell Governor McKee To Veto Rhode Island’s Version Of The Green New Deal!

Take action now! Add your voice to the many thousands who have asked Governor Dan McKee to live up to his promises as an advocate for the small business community, to take decisive action to relieve businesses of excessive green mandates and to ensure our state’s long-term viability by VETOING Rhode Island’s Green New Deal.

RI in Crisis While Our Progressive Leaders Self-Gratify

If we are going to revive our economy, we have to revive our sense of responsibility and become more engaged in what’s happening around us.

Vestis Virum Facit Versus Verba Virum Facere

Progressive Democrat State Senator Jonathan Acosta may be correct on the policy of a State House dress code, but for a reason that illustrates why he’s devastatingly wrong as a teacher.

Rhody Reporter: Axe the Act – H5445

The Rhody Reporter is flabbergasted at the scope of a wildly progressive bill just passed by the RI legislature. It would cede all legislative and executive prerogative on RI carbon emissions to an unelected state commission. Mark Zaccaria explains en route to asking everyone to call the governor and beg for a veto!

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Bad Bills and Employment Theater

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 22, included talk about:

  • Bad environmental legislation
  • Bad firearms legislation
  • Bad voting legislation
  • A telling Newsmakers interview
  • No confidence in the teachers’ union
  • A phony lieutenant governor top 10

I’ll be on again Monday, March 29, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

Say NO to Radical Energy Scheme Rocketing Through The General Assembly

A full on assault against the average Rhode Island family is rocketing through the General Assembly. The Ocean State is quickly moving to put our own version of the Green New Deal into law. We need you to take action immediately to voice your opposition to it, before it is too late. Click here now to say NO to this far-left radical scheme from the land of make-believe.

This, along with the TCI Gas Tax, will paralyze our state. As we struggle to recover from the pandemic, it should be inconceivable that state lawmakers would choose NOW to consider an additional 30-40 cents per gallon gas tax increase or impose a radical, prohibitively expensive energy scheme.

Yet, the price of gasoline could soon rise (even more than it already has) if a new stealth carbon-tax scheme – the TCI Gas Tax – is implemented … a move that would necessarily increase costs on families and business, driving more people out of our state. The House of Representatives will vote on House Bill 5445 this Tuesday. This version of the state’s green new deal has already passed the RI Senate.

Even if you have contacted lawmakers already, we need you to take action again to oppose RI’s Green New Deal: Click here to contact lawmakers to say NO to the TCI Gas Tax and H5445, Rhode Island’s Green New Deal!

The simple form, once completed, will automatically send an email to the Governor and to legislative leaders telling them to reject the regional gasoline cap-and-trade scheme and RI’s Green New Deal.

Tell them today that you stand against these radical energy schemes. Thank you for taking action, and remember that your voice counts.

House Vote Tuesday – Would Inflict Extremest Global Warming Measure on RI

On Tuesday, the Rhode Island House will be voting on H5445A. It would mandate the reduction to zero of greenhouse gases in Rhode Island. While the deadline in the bill is 2050, the real deadline is five years from now, at which point, the lawsuits can start. From the bill:

The Rhode Island attorney general, any Rhode Island resident and any Rhode Island corporation, company, organization, nonprofit or other Rhode Island legal entity or organization registered with the Rhode Island secretary of state may bring a civil action to enforce this chapter.

Click here, courtesy UpriseRI, for the case in favor of the bill.

Nowhere in that article or anywhere has there been offered any science or evidence that this most drastic of measures would have any impact whatsoever on global warming nor has there been remotely adequate disclosure about the ludicrous cost of bringing it about (converting every house and building in the state to electric-only heating and AC) or the impact on our power supply of changing the grid over from a reliable, constant fuel source to an unreliable, intermittent one (routine rolling blackouts) while simultaneously adding enormous demand to it or the impact (sky-rocket) on residents’ and businesses’ electric bills of being compelled to purchase power only from renewable energy sources.

In the presumably deliberate absence of this information, accordingly, combined with our observation of the experience of other states who converted even a small portion of their grid to renewables, we can assume the worst on all of those fronts.

If you, like so many of us, do not think this is a good idea, feel free to share your concerns with your state representative before Tuesday.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Insiders Take Us All for a Ride

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for March 15, included talk about:

  • RI bumbles another high-tech signup
  • The state slides on another national ranking
  • McKee & teacher jabs
  • The gameshow search for a lieutenant
  • The pot is almost ready

I’ll be on again Monday, March 22, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

One Year In: Lockdowns 100% Destruction; Zero Benefit

On its one year anniversary, it would be irresponsible not to look at the effectiveness of the COVID-19 lockdown. Florida and California vividly demonstrate that the answer is “completely ineffective”: the two states have had similar outcomes to very different approaches, making it clear that lockdowns did not and do not work to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19.

What about Rhode Island? Well, we locked down. And we have the third highest COVID-19 deaths nationally.

Lockdowns, even if they worked exactly as hoped, were never a good solution because of the enormous public health and other consequences they inflict. One year later, it is clear, as they do not achieve even their hoped-for goal, that they are entirely destructive with zero public health benefit.

Now, let’s look at where Rhode Island stands on the original reason for a lockdown: two weeks to flatten the curve and not overwhelm hospitals. Below is the trend of Rhode Island’s hospitalizations; specifically, Column U, “Currently Hospitalized” of this sheet:

4/28/2020: 375 (Spring, 2020 peak)

12/15/2020: 516

1/25/2021: 380

3/9/2021: 141

By this original goalpost, Rhode Island can open up fully, now. (Please stop with the agonizing and ineffective baby steps.) More to the point, the state never needs to lock down again for this (or any) reason. This is because, to her credit, former Governor Gina Raimondo set up COVID-19 field hospitals. While they were recently shut down because COVID-19 cases have dropped markedly, they will remain in place in the event of a surge.

The evidence and observed science one year into COVID-19 lockdowns is blaring and indisputable: they do not work. All states can and should open up immediately, fully, without restrictions – including nursing homes with reasonable protections. Refusing to do so is to deny the plain evidence and prolong the needless suffering and very serious health and other consequences of lockdowns.

The Republicans’ Sexist Progressive: Fenton-Fung

An identity-politics bill submitted by Fenton-Fung is so shockingly in-your-face in its progressivism that it’s difficult to see how conservatives could possibly consider supporting her if it isn’t a mistake or an aberration.

No on All Bond Questions But Especially on the Black Hole, #4

Sixth highest spending per mile for some of the country’s worst infrastructure. If money were going to solve the state’s infrastructure issues, they would have been fixed long before now.   No on Bond Question #4.

Redhanded: Radical Environmentalists Want to “Break Your Will” To Pass TCI

The shocking words they admit they can’t say publicly… were just made public. They say, if YOU heat your homes or drive passenger cars, YOU are the “bad guys.”

Whether it is “you,” “the person up the street,” or “the senior on fixed income”… the radical environmentalists who support TCI say it is you who they want to “turn the screws on” and “point the finger at,” so they can “break your will” to force you to “stop emitting.”

See the alarming video of the MA Undersecretary for Climate Change talking about the abusive TCI scheme: https://youtu.be/muxVGmgykA4

Learn more by clicking here now to read about how the TCI Gas Tax is bad for Rhode Island families.

Rhody Reporter: Teachers Gotta Teach

Mark Zaccaria examines the current conundrum in our public schools: Teachers don’t want to Teach, but they don’t want anyone else to, either. Too bad the RI Senate is aiding and abetting that stance.

Green on the Grid:  Texas is a Huge Red Flag

Count me among those somewhat surprised to learn that the electric grid of the State of Texas, perhaps best known for oil production (and proud of it), incorporates wind turbines in its electric grid. In fact,

… wind generation ranks as the second-largest source of energy in Texas, accounting for 23% of state power supplies last year

But as you have probably seen, this “green energy” source has turned into a big Achilles heel for Texas’ electric grid in the cold front that has descended on that state and much of the country. As of yesterday,

Frozen wind turbines have caused almost half of Texas’s wind generation capacity to go offline in the midst of an “unprecedented storm”.

The Lone Star state is under a state of emergency after freezing conditions swept the region, causing dangerously icy roads and leaving nearly 3 million people without power.

Update: frozen wind turbines led to a drop in Texas’ wind power from thirty one gigawatts to six and there are currently 3.4 million power outages. The situation is getting worse, not better.

Texas, and other states, has resorted to rolling blackouts. In below-freezing temperatures, this is literally a life-threatening situation for states like Texas which rely on electricity for heat (and lots of other critical activities).

A small but vocal group of advocates, promoted by many gauzy-eyed members of the mainstream media, have for years been pushing to transition to green energy away from fossil fuel.

Rhody Reporter: Da Speakah 2021

Mark Zaccaria analyzes the recent race for Speaker of the RI House of Representatives. Outwardly it appeared to be a tranquil coronation of Rep Joe Shekarchi, the Guy everyone suddenly wants to Know. Below the placid surface of this Made-for-Capitol-TV love fest, however, there was a lot more going on. As you’ll see in this segment, the jury is still out on the final results.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Flagging Leadership

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for February 1, included talk about:

  • Black Lives Matter flag in Barrington
  • The governor checks out
  • McKee shuffles in
  • Unplanned vaccines
  • The General Assembly back in the picture

I’ll be on again Monday, February 8, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Moving Past the East Side Style

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for January 25, included talk about:

  • Raimondo’s East Side of Providence style versus McKee’s Blackstone Valley style
  • Central Falls as leading example of RI’s patronage system
  • Black Lives Matter flag in Barrington
  • Legislation against vaccine line-cutters

I’ll be on again Monday, February 1, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

In The Dugout: We ARE Right!

Politics This Week with John DePetro: After the Storm

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for January 11, included talk about:

  • The attempt to cancel Rep. Price
  • Raimondo on her way out
  • McKee on quarantine

I’ll be on again Monday, January 18, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Departing Queen and Incoming Squad

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for January 4, included talk about:

  • Raimondo’s prospects in a Biden administration
  • Channel 10’s groveling before progressives
  • The General Assembly’s likely atmosphere

I’ll be on again Monday, January 11, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

WJAR’s Valicenti Editing: Don’t Trust Media to Protect Our Rights

At the outset of 2021, progressives and the local news media have sent a dangerous message to Rhode Islanders, an early symptom of metastasizing fascism.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Closing Out the Year

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for December 28, included talk about:

  • The Guv’s house as the new protest spot
  • A whittled down RI Congressional delegation
  • 2020 winners and losers
  • Things to watch for in 2021

I’ll be on again Monday, January 4, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

Roland Benjamin: COVID-19 Lockdown: The Preferred Intervention of the Elite

It is commonly accepted that an effective vaccine for COVID-19 will save lives.

The vaccine, be it BioNTech’s, Moderna’s, or any other pharmaceutical intervention, will most effectively bring an end to the COVID era. The “science” needed to bring this intervention into the world is astounding, with tens of thousands of test subjects undergoing trials for each version. Months and months and months of careful testing, and yet A SINGLE ADVERSE EVENT among any of the study participants halts the progress. One event. Savings lives is critical, so long as no harm is done in the process.

Simultaneously, governments all over the world have become obsessed with their own interventions. The non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) range from mask mandates, to required testing, to full scale economic lockdown. In the most extreme, China even resorted to welding people into their homes.

There has been no shortage of speculation that the lockdowns have caused harm. The argument has always been that they save lives by mitigating spread, but there really has not been comprehensive proof of that. Florida and California, two comparable states in climate and demography, have had comparable disease spreads with remarkably different approaches to inhibiting its residents. In other words, the NPIs adopted by California, draconian in some respects, have not proven any more effective than the “control group”…Florida’s non-interventionist approach.

Politics This Week with John DePetro: Them and the Rest of Us

My weekly call-in on John DePetro’s WNRI 1380 AM/95.1 FM show, for December 14, included talk about:

  • The administration’s COVID outbreak
  • The governor’s quarantine
  • A budget through the roof
  • The governor’s house becomes an official protest spot

I’ll be on again Monday, December 14, at 12:00 p.m. on WNRI 1380 AM and I-95.1 FM.

Rhody Reporter: Fines by Executive Order

Diana Lozowski notes all the extra-legislative authority Governor Raimondo is exercising in the service of enforcing her lockdown orders and muses (along with two prominent legislators) that her excellency is skating on thin legal ice.

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