Oh my God, I didn’t think it was possible to be any more in love with this woman than I already was. But there you go.

Rumors are swirling that the Agenda’s emerging from its 18-month booze/law-school/PBN-induced coma.  (Giving medical science new hope, as the first victim of PBN to ever re-awake.)

Normally we’d settle this in the parking lot behind Talk of the Town (now just: ‘that parking lot that’s fully exposed to the street and might someday be a shitty hotel’).  Or maybe on the kickball field, anway.

But, per Tabs’ advice, I propose that we channel all that competitive angst into MAKING THE BLOG SUCK LESS.

Austin’s looking pretty good right about now. Or Portland, Oregon, San Diego or even Seattle. Rhode Island’s economy is i n the toilet. Electricity just went up over 20%, meaning you’ll be paying about $30 more a month for it. Also, heating oil is up 79% which means poor people are going to freeze this winter, if they don’t starve first. Everyone knows how much gas is right now, I won’t even start on that. And have you noticed how many of your friends are unemployed? That’s because the unemployment rate here has gone up to 7.2%, but don’t worry, that’s only the second highest rate in the U.S. right now. The labor force shrank in May, meaning people are leaving the state. I woke up at 6 am and couldn’t get back to sleep so I thought, “I’ll just watch the news and relax.” That was a bad idea.

Been all over the news as a potential veep candidate — even listed as the third most likely choice on Hardball last night.

Though it’s still real hard for me to see how anybody from the bluest of blue states makes the ticket, and Sen Reed’s denying that he wants it.  And I trust him, over Chris Matthews’ bloviations.

The one upside to Electoral College and ’safe’-’swing’ state phenomenon is that voters in safe states don’t need to worry about ’spoiler’ candidates.  And we needn’t worry much about Nader’s role here:

Ralph Nader’s independent presidential campaign is scheduled to turn in signatures this afternoon to get on the November ballot in Rhode Island — the 10th state where his campaign has formally sought a spot on the ballot.

Nader’s campaign says it will submit more than 2,000 signatures, twice as many as the minimum of 1,000 required, with Rhode Island’s secretary of state.

His campaign also plans to turn in signatures today in South Carolina, and says he will be well on the way to being on the ballot in 15 states by next week.

In Massachusetts, Nader said he has about 17,000 signatures in hand and is aiming for 20,000. He needs 10,000 valid signatures to get on the Bay State ballot.

I’m not a huge Ralph fan these days, for a number of reasons (though I do have a soft spot for his running mate, Matt Gonzalez).  Either way, I really wish that Greens and others in the left-leaning third-party and indy politics world would focus on instituting structural electoral reforms, and not on running candidates who have no shot of winning.

Build a really long new bridge:

The biggest, most dramatic, if maybe not the most serious suggestion from the URI professors?

Build a bridge from Rhode Island to Long Island, and make money from tolls. Such a bridge, going from Orient Point on Long Island across the mouth of Long Island Sound via Plum Island and Fishers Island to Westerly, has been talked about, although not recently.

I actually think that tolls at the Connecticut border probably make sense.  And the truck stop idea doesn’t sound bad either:

Build, in partnership with a private company, a big, high-quality truck stop. “We do not have a good truck stop in Rhode Island,” and there’s a market for one, Hales said. Give truck drivers a good reason to stop — an attractive place, facilities, shopping within walking distance — and they might pay to stay a day or two.

As the Providence City Council considers at large seats, it’s worth noting what’s going on in Cincinnati, where the NAACP is trying to get proportional representation on the ballot.  Cinci used PR from the 1920s through the 1950s.  It was implemented to break the back of the Republican ward bosses who controlled the city — and it was done away with because it worked:

Proportional Representation is defined as “an electoral system  designed to represent in a legislative body each political group or party in proportion to its actual voting strength in the electorate”.

The City of Cincinnati used PR from 1926 to 1957 but changed to a winner take all system after African American(s) began to get elected. In fact, former Cincinnati NAACP Branch President and Charterite, Theodore M. Berry, placed number #1 under the PR system.

The Cincinnati Executive Committee feels strongly that every vote must be counted in our local elections and clearly understands that the only system that achieves this objective exactly is PR.

AS220: Lazy magnet, TxokaTxoka (pictured), Neckhold (from Australia) and Frequency Control. 9pm, $6

This looks pretty great. I’ll try to remember to re-post next week:

Hi all,

The Green Grease Monkeys from Boston will be doing their second conversion demo on July 26 at Circle A Cycles, 523 Charles St, from 9-5. They’ll be converting a VW Jetta TDI, and the cost is $50 per person, half of which goes to Recycle A Bike.

I think they ask that we all bring something for a lunch potluck. We’ll provide the espresso. Folks can contact me for more info, or sign up with Patrick directly at
pkeaney@netway.com.

Also, not a bad place to mention that following from conversations in the Assembly this year (spurred by a bill I was working on with Newport Biodiesel) I recently received this note from URI’s lobbyist:

Anyway, in the course of discussion, the President’s Council on Sustainability at the University of Rhode Island offered a solution that is a win-win.

[Two members of our] Sustainability Council, are taking all the used cooking grease at URI and recycling it through a biodiesel reactor. When the biodiesel reactor is finished with the recycled fuel, it will be used by our vehicles.

The Greens have chosen former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and activist Rosa Clemente as their candidates for prez and vice prez.

It’s probably a pretty smart move for the party, but it’s too early to know what effects it might have on the broader presidential election landscape. (Who knows, for instance, how hard they’ll end up running in swing states?) But for a party that’s been associated with crusty, white, post-hippies (for whom I do have a lot of fondness) there’s potential to reach out to younger activists and members of minority communities, and to move beyond the perception that the GP is owned by Ralph.

McKinney also has a substantial following of 9-11 Truthers, because she held hearings on the issue that were critical of the 9-11 Commission’s report — take a look at the signs in the photo below. When I left the Green Party a couple of years ago it was small and disjointed enough that it might’ve been susceptible to take-over by such an influx. I really hope that the issue doesn’t come to define the party — third parties can, and should try to, broaden the political debate in important ways. It’ll be better for all of us if McKinney’s campaign and supporters focus on militarism, corporate power, health care, education, civil liberties, and the environment — and not on, you know, being crazy.

(I don’t want to assert that I know McKinney’s personal position on the whole affair: She seems to have been a ‘moderate’ of sorts within the Truther world: She has wondered aloud if the Bush admin might’ve had advance knowledge of the attacks, but I don’t think that she’s ever believed there was a hard government-run conspiracy, and I don’t know where she stands right now.  But there’s a good chance that her presence on the ticket will pull a lot of hard Truthers into the GP.)

Either which way, with McKinney, Nader, and former congressman Bob Barr all making runs, for those of us who are fascinated by third party politics, this is shaping up as one the most interesting presidential elections in recent history.

State landfill announces free tours of facility:

Do you ever wonder where your trash goes? Or those recycled bottles and cans?

Now anyone can see what happens in a tour of the state Central Landfill, in Johnston, an eye opener that Rhode Island Monthly magazine has called “the best field trip in Rhode Island” for schoolchildren.

This week’s New Yorker: tasteless fodder or smart satire? Cover artist Barry Blitt defended his work to HuffPo’s Nico Pitney, but others have taken offense at his statement. Whaddayathink?

The new procedures are designed to ensure “that aircraft of one runway clear out of the path of the other runway before the second flight comes down on the other runway.”

I have new work and a large-scale installation at the AS220 Project Space (that’s 93 Matthewson), and the opening is this Sunday, July 13th from 4-7 pm.

For all you Sound Session goers who are out dancing in the streets until 3 am on Saturday (including me) - roll out of bed and join me for bloody marys and snacks. And lovely art by Sarah Clover as well. And did I mention bloody marys?

Fry ‘em:

EDGARTOWN, Mass. — A 60-year-old man is facing a disorderly conduct charge after allegedly lying about seeing two great white sharks off a Martha Vineyard’s beach.

Matt points out some great news: The Providence External Review Authority has withstood a long-threatened court challenge, and been deemed constitutional by the RI Supreme Court. The civilian review board comports with the Law Enforcement Officers’ Bill of Rights.

Now, just as the clouds are starting to break, the bad news: Its funding is being threatened.

Most police aren’t abusing their power — but to protect those who are, and to have no civilian oversight, is to cast a pall on the whole body. While things are far better than they were a decade ago, Providence, tragically, has a historically troubled police department. What better way to restore faith in it, and convince the residents of the improvements, than via PERA?