Stereotypical Radioactivity: Shock Jocks And The Armey Of Dick’s

Last month, I had a chance to hear Matt Allen interview RI teabag spokesperson, Doreen Costa, just prior to her group’s September 12th rally in Washington DC. I listened carefully, waiting in vain for the WPRO radio personality (and fellow Bristol native) to ask some penetrating questions of his guest:

• Like how a group led by such a politically-connected right-winger as former House Majority Leader Dick Armey can be considered anything but “Astroturf” (i.e. fake grassroots) activists?
• Or how they can complain about big government and out-of-control spending as if they were fiscally conservative, while remaining noticeably silent on the trillion dollar wars in the Middle East, handing out literature from the neo-liberal Heritage Foundation, and otherwise supporting the ideas of free-market capitalism – the radical theory most responsible for the global economic collapse?
• Or why they have chosen to spread lies about public healthcare options, including death panels, rationed services, and government takeovers, without proposing a single (let alone single payer) solution to the nation’s healthcare crisis?
• Or why they’ve showed up at rallies and town hall meetings throughout the country with guns and violent rhetoric?

Alas, these tough questions were never asked. In fact, the interview was little more than an info-commercial for the teabag movement, giving further credence to those who add zero to political debate besides anger and divisiveness. Of course, we shouldn’t be too surprised about all this. Over the past few years, our airwaves have essentially been hijacked by huge corporations with biased agendas.

In 2007, the Center for American Progress released a report on the structural imbalance of political talk radio in the US, revealing that over 90% of the news coverage of the top 5 station owners (CBS, Clear Channel, Citadel, Cumulus, and Salem) is conservative. The study’s authors mainly attributed their findings to the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which removed the national limit on the num­ber of radio stations a company could own. This resulted in a wave of consolidation with many conglomerates going from a few dozen stations to several hundred apiece. For example, WPRO’s parent company, Citadel Broadcasting, runs a total of six radio outlets in RI alone, while rival Clear Channel boasts four, including the equally narrow-minded news/talk station WHJJ.

Indeed, the removal of radio ownership limits has practically monopolized free speech. As more and more stations do the bidding of large corporations and cater to the lowest common denominator, it’s becoming increasingly rare to hear diverse voices on the air. All we seem to have nowadays are shock jocks serving as mouthpieces for wealthy political elites and their army of extremist allies. But you can help change that…

In an attempt to make RI residents more aware of the issues and provide them with consistent, quality journalism, the East Bay Citizens for Peace hope to get local TV and radio stations to carry the news program Democracy Now!

Please help them by contacting WRNI and RI PBS to request that they add Democracy Now! to their lineups.

Afghanistan Position Paper

Despite General Stanley McChrystal’s recent request for more troops in Afghanistan, President Obama is said to be considering a proposal to scale back Afghan efforts. Perhaps the administration is finally realizing what some Americans have known for a very long time – that the strategy to defeat al-Qaeda in the region will not succeed if we rely on military action.

For months, the RI-based East Bay Citizens for Peace (EBCP) has called on the US to cease all bombing raids and drone strikes along the Afghan border with Pakistan, which have proved counterproductive and resulted in numerous deaths of innocent civilians. They also call for a de-escalation of troop levels and a plan to withdraw all US forces from the country as soon as possible.

In EBCP’s opinion, military action is not the solution to the problems in Afghanistan. In fact, they believe it will only make things worse and lead to increases in our military budget, which is already more than $500 billion per year. Instead, they urge other ways of responding to al-Qaeda:

• Affirm Afghanistan’s sovereignty, integrity, and the right of its people to self determination, with the responsibility of the international community as witnesses to ensure these rights.
• Close Guantanamo Bay, Bagram and all other detention centers around the world. The illegal detention and abuse of Muslims in such facilities have only served to enflame anti-American sentiments and aid recruitment efforts by al-Qaeda.
• Use more diplomacy instead of military force. Expand diplomatic talks to include neighboring countries and international agencies such as the United Nations.
• Provide long-term aid directed at strengthening the economic, political and civic cultures of Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries in the region.
• Address the real needs of the people, including health-care, clean water, education, and security.
• Protect the legal rights and status of all peoples without regard to race, religion, nationality or creed in our diplomatic and political actions.

While the Obama administration rethinks Afghanistan, groups like East Bay Citizens for Peace must make their voices heard so the US can move beyond the wars of terror and restore its moral authority in the world. Get involved: http://www.eastbaycitizens4peace.org/.

The Oxbow Incident

I find it fitting that on the same day my car was rear-ended on Middletown’s West Main Road, I happened upon members of the Shantel Bailey Project holding vigil. Just a few hours removed and a short drive from my hit-and-run collision, friends and family of “Telly” Bailey stood across from Oxbow Farms carrying signs in their loved one’s honor at the very spot where she died.

Miss Bailey would be celebrating her 22nd birthday today if not for the reckless driver who struck and killed her on the night of November 19, 2003 as she tried to cross the busy four lane highway. Ever since her death and others like it, the town and state have pledged to improve West Main by adding sidewalks, lights and signs, and amping up law enforcement of traffic violations.

Unfortunately, these remedies do nothing to address the biggest factors that make travel on West Main Road so treacherous:

1) Weak legislation: Although the man behind the wheel in Shantel’s accident was driving way over the speed limit, he was never arrested – because, by RI law, he can’t be arrested for such a charge! In addition to stricter enforcement of traffic laws, we also need stricter legislation to scare drivers straight and slow them down to a manageable speed.

2) Overburdened infrastructure: Extra sidewalks, lights, and signs are all well and good, but using a tiny strip like West Main Road (or the even smaller East Main Road) as a four lane highway simply defies logic, unless one views it from the absolute narrowest economic perspective. Middletown businesses and motorists can live with a slightly longer commute, but, more importantly, so can the pedestrians! The state needs to turn both East and West Main Roads into two lane streets so we can avoid any more tragic deaths in our community… And, ironically enough, so we can avoid wasting money on the never-ending cycle of road reconstruction on routes that are supporting double their physical capacity.

Meanwhile, the spirit of Telly still lives on through the work of The Shantel Bailey Project. Turning loss into hope, the non-profit organization awards a scholarship each year to deserving students in Middletown and Rogers High Schools in Shantel Bailey’s name. Check out their website for more information and to see how you can help.

Bristol Baseball’s Best

Only a few miles and nearly 125 years to the day from the start of one of the greatest feats in baseball history, the sport tragically lost one of its top ambassadors. On Friday, Frederick Ivor-Campbell was traveling on Route 195 E when his car was struck head-on by a westbound vehicle after its driver lost control and swerved across six lanes of traffic. Fred was pronounced dead at the scene, while his wife Alma was seriously injured in the crash. The news of his passing is being mourned by the thousands of loyal fans, friends, and colleagues across the country who had the honor of knowing him.

A former English professor at Kings College in New York, Fred Campbell was a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) for three decades and was, as the Bristol Phoenix described him in 1997, “one of the foremost experts on the origination and early days of baseball”. Fred wrote or edited several of the society’s publications including “Total Baseball – The Official Encyclopedia”, “Biographical Dictionary of American Sports”, and the Sporting News/SABR Award-winning “Baseball’s First Stars”. In addition to his fine research, Fred served in many official capacities for the group, such as chair of the 19^th Century Committee, member of the board of Directors, and Vice President. His tireless work ultimately earned him SABR’s highest recognition, the Bob Davids Award, in 2003.

I first met Fred eleven years ago when he graciously shared his vast knowledge with a gritty bunch of ballplayers known as the Providence Grays Vintage Base Ball Club, while we prepared to recreate the sport the way it was played in Rhode Island back in 1884. As Fred explained to us at our first team meeting, that was when pitcher Charlie “Old Hoss” Radbourn did the impossible — leading his Providence Grays almost single-handedly to the National League pennant and first-ever World’s Series, winning an astronomical 60 games in the process! Today’s Grays, thanks much to Fred’s input, have been a pioneering force in the burgeoning sport ever since our first game on the Bristol Town Common in 1998. We, and the dozens of vintage clubs throughout the region that have followed, all owe a huge debt of gratitude to this kind, soft-spoken gentleman. With a youthful sparkle in his eye and loving wife by his side, Fred’s joy in watching the game, which he knew so intimately, being played on one of the nation’s oldest ball fields, was something special to behold. In his typical humble fashion, I’m sure he would claim this was repayment enough… but it’s not even close.

Like his favorite story of Old Hoss’ march toward immortality that he worked so hard to preserve, Frederick Ivor-Campbell’s memory should also be kept alive for future generations. However, just as a mid-season suspension of Radbourn was lifted on July 23, 1884 by Providence’s management after their only other pitcher jumped to another league, pressure must again be exerted on the powers that be in order for Fred to have his chance at lasting glory.

If the Bristol Athletic Hall of Fame can induct members who reached their prime as teenagers or whose impact was felt only at the local level, then surely there’s plenty of room for one of the most profound baseball intellectuals of his or any era — not to mention all of Bristol‘s other baseball greats missing from the plaques adorning the wall in the Town Hall. Indeed, not only are the two Bristolians who reached the majors absent from our Athletic Hall of Fame (that would be John Hamill and a player known only by the name of Sullivan in case you’re wondering), but so too is the best ballplayer to have ever called this town his home:

Billy Whyte was denied what certainly would’ve been a solid big league career simply because of the color of his skin!

In the above-mentioned Phoenix article, Frederick Ivor-Campbell coyly admitted he loved “seeing [his] name in print.” Well, I can’t think of a more fitting tribute to Fred, a person who filled so many minds and touched so many hearts with the history and wonder of our national pastime, than for him to see his name posthumously etched alongside the rest of Bristol baseball’s best.

He will be missed but hopefully never forgotten.

Independence Day Awards

Here are the Bullraker’s picks for best and worst of Bristol’s 4^th of July parade.

The Worst

Death And Taxes

A last-minute addition to the procession, the R.I. Tea Party floated their boat through the streets of downtown Bristol. As they passed me along the route, I wondered if anyone else could see through the patriotic facade. Comparing themselves to the colonists who rebelled against taxation without representation, the non-profit organization claims to be a watch dog group dedicated to “transparency and clarity” in government. If only these activists could view one another with that same transparency and clarity, they may find a few more reasons to be angry about the current state of politics.

A closer examination of the membership of R.I. Tea Party reveals a much bigger concern for anti-taxation than representation. The national Tea Party movement has been supported by right wing zealots posing as non-partisan organizations and Rhode Island’s version is no different, receiving backing from the innocuously named Ocean State Policy Research Institute and Rhode Island Statewide Coalition. This Republican smokescreen, while deplorable, is predictable given the fact we live in one of the bluest states in the country. The RI GOP is so desperate they are resorting to grassroots activism to push forward their elitist agendas. The irony would be amusing if not for the success of the movement.

Thousands of protesters gathered in Providence on April 15 for the Tax Day Tea Party and several hundred converged on the city again for the Gaspee Tea Party last month. The R.I. Tea Party, though appalling to some, may seem appealing to those who are rightfully outraged by the mishandling of tax dollars by politicians on both sides of the aisle. However, while the worst of our government’s fiscally irresponsible deeds are bi-partisan efforts (like the deregulating of finance and trade, the subsidizing and/or bailing out of big industry, and the waging of endless wars in the Middle East), the misguided Teabaggers are wrongly, and perhaps unwittingly, polarizing the issues and calling for yet further shifts toward so-called “free market” capitalism –  the radical ideology which has led us to this point!

The original Boston Tea Party was a revolutionary act that flew in the face of the ruling class but its present incarnations are counter-revolutionary, serving only to strengthen those already in power. The response to politicians who spend our money unwisely shouldn’t be to demand the death of taxes, but to demand that they be used solely for the public good and not the personal or private enrichment of the few. Hopefully, the R.I. Tea Party can read the tea leaves and find a better platform from which to toss their grievances. Here’s a good place to start: http://www.opensecrets.org/

The Best

America: Made In China

Victims of the economic crisis stretch far beyond our borders. As China has grown into a superpower, thanks in large part to the Clinton administration’s lifting of U.S. trade restrictions in the 1990s, its stranglehold on peaceful religious groups like Buddhists, Uyghurs, and Falun Dafa has tightened.

Vicious crackdowns on political dissent are nothing new to the Chinese. This year marks the 20^th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and a generation before saw the downfall of the Cultural Revolution. But now that China has become a major force in world economics, they’ve stepped up their efforts to crush internal opposition without any fear of external retribution. During the 2008 Olympics, when the country’s litany of human rights violations (including the deadly beatings of protesting Tibetan monks a few months earlier) should have been on display for everyone to see, there was a great wall of silence. China did their part, contracting with Google to prevent access to websites that reveal what is actually going on there, though they weren’t alone in the cover up. U.S. athletes were warned not to make any political statements and even President Bush, who was present for the opening ceremonies, didn’t say a single discouraging word.

You see, it’s much easier for the U.S. and its allies to look the other way when human rights abuses take place in countries that are part of the global market – just look how long it took to find countries willing to accept the Uyghurs wrongfully detained at Gitmo! However, when countries more isolated from U.S. business interests, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, are guilty of crimes against humanity… well, you know what happens. We bomb and rebuild. Watch out, Iran, you could be next!

But China is the elephant in the room. We can’t upset them because they’re now at the heart of America’s manufacturing sector – not to mention they’ve helped fund said wars in the Middle East. It’s simple: The more the Chinese economy grows, the wealthier the U.S. becomes. So how can we bite the hand that feeds us? And, of course, by “us” I mean the filthy rich. I’m not sure if the shrinking middle or expanding lower classes, whose jobs are continually being outsourced to overseas sweatshops, would feel the same way.

All this brings me back to Bristol, where I was thrilled to see the Falun Dafa proudly marching down the Red, White, & Blue road with their equally colorful garb and dragon figure. Despite their persecution at the hands of the Chinese government, Falun Dafa has grown to 100 million followers in 114 countries around the world. And, despite the role of the U.S. in aiding brutal regimes like China’s, we can still offer a sanctuary for people to express their ideas freely – a reassuring message that America has what it takes to make the world a better place. Like the Falun Dafa, we just have to be willing to fight and persevere.

Chinese products are ubiquitous. At times it must seem impossible not to own something that was made there. But, what the heck, why not give it a try? Take the Bullraker Boycott Challenge and eliminate all the cheap, unfairly traded Chinese crap from your life. You’ll be doing yourself and the planet a big favor.

Abortion: Blown Out Of Proportion

The recent death of Dr. George Tiller has sparked local citizens to action. Unfortunately, rather than taking a stand against the utter hypocrisy of those in the “pro-life” movement who use violence and intimidation to get their points across, a group of anti-abortion terrorists stood outside the Women’s Medical Center in Cranston earlier in the week carrying signs that actually named the doctor doing procedures there — perhaps hoping the next lunatic will set his crosshairs on a “baby killer” a little closer to home.

Always a hot button topic, abortion has practically taken on a life of its own. One can only imagine how many single-issue voters have been born as a result of the epic battles of the religious right versus the feminist left. And to think: all this fuss over something relatively meaningless in world politics. War, poverty, disease, environmental degradation… just name a crisis and there’s a good chance it’s more important than whether a pregnant woman should decide to keep her unborn child.

So why is there so much emphasis placed on a non-issue? Well, for starters, the two-party system has little to gain and much to lose if it resolves a wildly controversial if not globally relevant topic. Hey, they may look and sound like dummies most of the time, but our politicians know that if a real effort is made to quell the  problems surrounding abortion then they may lose all the single-issue voters they (haven’t) worked so hard to get. I mean, you can’t expect politicians to actually attract and retain voters based solely on merit, can you? No way. It’s much easier for them to placate the single-minded constituents by simply pretending to get something done on a particular matter, but I digress (more on the “interest of conflict” in a future post).

The big reason why the abortion debate is so prevalent is that the combatants, in unrighteous pursuits of righteousness, have over-inflated the significance of their causes. In other words, abortion is blown out of proportion. Neither side is completely wrong, but neither one wants to listen to the other because they’re both too blind to see that they’re anything but completely right!

I just don’t get how some people can claim to believe in the sanctity of life but also be in favor of the death penalty or cutting social programs designed to help millions of living, breathing Americans. Um, so I guess all life is important unless and until you’re born poor? And, on the other hand, although it’s important to protect the rights of all citizens, please excuse me if I don’t wax poetic about the right to be irresponsible. Because, after all, a large number of abortions are just that: irresponsible acts to remedy earlier irresponsible acts. Not exactly the best mantra.

Of course, as an American, I understand the importance of a country’s laws transcending things like gender and religion. This self-evident truth informs me of the proper place of abortion in our society, even if, as a true pro-lifer, I personally disagree with the act. Nevertheless, I still question what impact legislated irresponsibility has on us, especially if we don’t address the factors that cause people to behave irresponsibly in the first place. Both sides in this debate have to come together to help reduce the number of abortions (and deaths) by empowering people, allowing them to take ownership of their lives and become more responsible citizens.

Speaking of responsible citizenry, the Women’s Medical Center is looking for volunteers to escort people to and from the clinic on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from 7-10 AM. Lately there’s been few to no escorts, but it is clear that they are necessary again. There is a security guard present. The clinic is located at 1725 Broad St. Cranston–about 2 blocks north of the Walgreen. Robin Dionne is the President of the 2to1 Coalition for Choice and coordinates escorts. Her email is robinpie@gmail.com, if you have any questions. Please pass this word along to anyone you know who might be willing to help. Thanks!

Monopoly Utilities

  

Power grids and water supplies are important aspects of the nation’s infrastructure. Along with roads, sewers, and telecommunications, they help provide the necessary services and facilities for a society to function. Unfortunately for Bristolians, unlike these other elements of our infrastructure, which are publicly owned or allow for private competition, we have single entities supplying our electricity and water — National Grid and The Bristol County Water Authority — that have both become monopolies.

Advance token to the nearest utility

Rhode Island is in an ideal position to help lead the country in a green energy revolution. We have the wind (thanks to our beautiful coastlines). We have the people to fill the jobs (thanks to our ugly unemployment numbers). And, at the local level, we even have the political will (thanks to our many passionate community activists). But there’s still one thing standing in the way: monopoly money.

With their stranglehold on the market, National Grid has plenty of dough to lobby the state’s Public Utilities Commission to do their bidding. As a result, they have been successful in setting the buyback rate of excess energy from wind turbines at only 3 cents per KW, a full 7 cents less than the reimbursments of other renewable sources. They were also able to reinterpret the word “account” in legislation on how to credit these buybacks on a turbine owner’s electric bills. Rather than applying credit to all of the accounts under the owner’s name (a.k.a. “virtual net metering”), which is actually what lawmakers intended, buybacks can be credited to no more than five accounts. Considering the owners of the state’s only two existing turbines, Portsmouth Abbey and the Town of Portsmouth, each have dozens of National Grid accounts, this narrow interpretation is a huge blow and could very well discourage other groups from considering wind power.

However, as obstructive as National Grid is to regional progress, the Bristol County Water Authority (BCWA) may be worse.  The steadily increasing water bills over the years have likely met with disgust from residents, who use the least amount of water per capita in RI yet now pay the highest rates in the state, but that disgust has certainly not been accompanied by improved services. An aging pipeline system and an insufficient number of water towers, most of which are rotting into rusty relics, do little to suggest otherwise.

So where’s all this money going? Well, one thing’s for sure, a good chunk of it is going to the Authority’s employees and corporate officers. Yes, that’s right, despite calling itself a “public agency” and being listed alongside the numerous volunteer boards on the Town of Bristol’s website, the BCWA is run more like a private business than a public commission. It’s only natural then that their officers would want to do whatever they can to maximize profits – even if it means inadequately testing our drinking water for contaminants.

In March of 2008, the BCWA was part of a nation-wide investigative study released by the Associated Press that examined the types of drugs found in U.S. water supplies. And the results were shocking: Half of the water utilities in the report (including the BCWA) do not test for pharmaceuticals, while those that do found trace amounts of medications like anti-epileptics, sex hormones, mood stabilizers, antibiotics and steroids – worrying scientists about the long-term health and environmental effects on the millions of people who inadvertently consume such chemicals each and every day.

But the BCWA isn’t worried. Not about “meaningless” issues like water quality at least. No, their sole concern of late seems to be on growing their monopoly and trampling anyone who dares get in the way. In February of this year, board member John Saviano was ousted for speaking out against the latest pricy labor contract approved by the BCWA, which of course will inevitably lead to another rate hike. While nobody should lose much sleep over someone who helped oversee the Authority’s mutation into a money grabbing machine during the past twenty years, his removal should be viewed as a measure of the lengths a monopoly will go to maintain its dominance.

Community Chest

The Bristol Wind Power group is pushing for the idea of a consortium of East Bay towns to build a series of turbines, which will pay for most, if not all, of the municipal electricity use in the area. But this plan won’t go far without passage of the virtual net metering provision. Find your state reps and urge them to support H5907.

Water privatization, meanwhile, is a growing trend which stretches far beyond county lines. Watch the Democracy Now! interview with water rights activist Maude Barlow and learn more about the global movement to turn our water supplies into corporate commodities.

Do not pass GO

The best way to resolve problems with natural monopolies is to make them public. Bristol must take back its rights to energy and water from the greedy hands of National Grid and the Bristol County Water Authority even if that means invoking eminent domain on our power lines and pipelines. It’s high time we tell Rich Uncle Pennybags to quit playing games with our infrastructure.

Movie Review: Sir! No Sir!

Sir! No Sir! tells the story of the GI movement to end the Vietnam War. I found this documentary fascinating for a number of reasons:

• I realized that, of all the anti-war protestors of the era, those in the military were probably the most influential.
• I was amazed at how little I had previously known about the GI movement against the war, which according to the film, is due to a bit of revisionist history.
• Ironically U.S. soldiers do not have many rights, including that of free speech. Someone has to explain to me how this is constitutional.
• The urban legend that returning veterans were unwelcome and, in some cases, spit on by peace activists was debunked. Another revisionist history fun fact, perhaps?
• Unlike a lot of movies about this turbulent period in American history, it remained focused on the larger issues of war and peace and didn’t get lost in the comparatively irrelevant “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” experience.

With all that said, the most important thing I took away from Sir! No Sir! was how it could be used as a blueprint for today’s soldiers. Hopefully they will watch it and be inspired to action, because that may be the only way the wars on terror can come to an end.

Leaders Of The New School?

Once again, the Bristol Warren school committee is employing disaster politics to try and steer their agendas past the electorate. They are claiming a decision must be made immediately to alleviate yet another pre-fabricated problem looming on the horizon, but quick decisions are exactly what have led us to this latest “dire” situation in which we find ourselves.

In 2002, the committee believed we were going to have a population explosion so we needed to build additions to our schools. It turned out this prediction, coincidentally made by the same company (The Mount Vernon Group) who was also hired to do the renovation work, was completely inaccurate. Last year, the school board then realized that in fact the population was declining so we needed to close two more schools to go along with the previously abandoned Walley School.  Now this year they again claim a huge population boom is coming so we need to build a school and move more students into Warren. Only a dog chasing its own tail has as much dizzying logic!

There must be a hidden agenda within our school committee and possibly town council or else this is utter incompetence. Convincing townspeople to build new schools and ship our kids off to Warren evidently proved too daunting for officials to take head on. So they have resorted to scare tactics which, by their narrow measure of success (i.e. pushing their agendas through at any cost), have been effective. In closing down a total of three schools they have guaranteed overcrowding, leaving me to wonder: Was a huge addition added to Hugh Cole because the intention all along was to close the Town Common schools and bus our elementary students to Warren?

Unfortunately, what the members of the school committee fail to recognize is that these bull-headed ways are catching up to them. We are lucky to live in a town whose citizens are so engaged, involved and willing to help. The majority supports our public education system but when their voices are continually silenced and such subversive strategies are implemented, the goodwill quickly turns to angst. It is only a matter of time before more Bristol residents will reach the same conclusion as I have – that the end does not always justify the means. An open, transparent government is far more important than any set of policies, no matter how well intentioned those policies might seem.

While the notion of improving the educational resources for our students is noble, the hasty and questionable approaches taken by the committee have already had a negative impact. Superintendent Ed Mara and several concerned parents pleaded with the committee and town council to leave Reynolds and Byfield open, and to not be so impulsive in their decision making. But they refused, were quick to make a decision and it has proven to be a bad one. As a result, the successful Arts Magnet program was thrown away and the students were shuffled around. In addition, while some members of the school committee claim to embrace the idea of neighborhood schools, they are willing to send Bristol students into Warren, ignoring the potential ramifications such an upheaval will have on young children and on a town whose goal it is to remain lively and vibrant. Still others on the committee, instead of paying a significant amount of money to update the Town Common schools — many features in Byfield and Reynolds are original to the buildings and understandably deteriorating — would rather pay significantly more money and ruin what little open space we still have left in Bristol to build something new.

We do not need to bus Bristol students to Warren and we do not need a new school. And we especially do not need anymore disaster politics. What we need is renewed leadership, proper planning and most importantly a transparent government. We must reopen Reynolds and Byfield and possibly even Walley, and actually take care of them. These are historic buildings that should be used for their intended purpose. If Colt school with its marble façade and intricate stained glass window could be beautifully renovated then it is completely possible and necessary to treat our other educational treasures with the same care.

Citizens of Bristol, I implore you to speak out against bussing our students to Warren and building a new school (listed in the town council meeting minutes for May 13 as item K2).  Demand that our schools be reopened and properly maintained.

The Fall Of Troy

In 1991, Troy Anthony Davis was sentenced to death for the murder of an off-duty police officer in a Burger King parking lot on August 19, 1989. Today, almost two decades later, Davis still sits on Georgia’s death row — even though the case against him, which wasn’t very strong to begin with, has all but crumbled.

Not only was there no physical evidence or murder weapon tying Davis to the crime, but, since the trial, seven of the nine eyewitnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony, and one of the remaining witnesses has been implicated by nine others as the actual murderer! Yet, instead of being released or given a new trial, Troy remains in prison awaiting execution while running out of appeals… and time.

How has this miscarriage of justice been allowed to continue, one might ask? Here’s a hint:

(Troy Davis is African-American.)

The notion that we suddenly live in a post-racial society, simply because the country elected its first black president, is a complete whitewash. But whether white America is so far removed from the plight of minorities that we fail to recognize it, or we pretend the rise of Obama has somehow appeased centuries of inequities (just so we can continue reaping the benefits of those very inequities), doesn’t really matter. Because the truth is that, on top of all the other socio-economic disadvantages that historically come with being anything but Caucasian, we can now add target of the burgeoning corporate prison system to the list.

Fortunately this sort of stuff only happens in the Deep South though, right? Think again.

Last August, Hiu Lui “Jason” Ng, a 34 year-old Chinese immigrant, died in the Wyatt Detention Center in Central Falls, RI, but it wasn’t by lethal injection, electrocution, hanging, firing squad, guillotine, or crucifixion. Those would have been much too quick for the likes of an illegal who (gasp) got caught applying for a green card! Nope, the capital punishment Mr. Ng received was a slow and excruciating cancer:

1. Of the liver.
2. And of the lungs.
3. And of the bones.
4. Oh and he had a fractured spine too, but who’s counting?

See, despite complaining for months of severe pain while in custody, Ng was refused medical treatment by immigration officials who told him to stop faking his illness. I wonder if they think he’s faking his death now too.

Sadly, the increasingly disproportionate number of minorities in prisons, the harsh crackdown on illegal immigration, and even the detainee torture scandals of the Bush Wars are all symptoms of a booming private prison industry, one that is profiting from taxpayer dollars to house so-called criminals, who in many cases are guilty of charges that might not equate to such stiff penalties if they were more white, more American, or more holy.

Of course, it’s not like we’re a bunch of closet Klansmen. While the country isn’t yet post-racial as a whole, many of us have welcomed our melting pot of diversity. However, as long as segments of the population remain disenfranchised and perceived as vulnerable by those looking to exploit others for financial gain, then places like Wyatt will continue to exist and good people like Jason Ng and Troy Davis will continue to suffer.

Davis, a young guy hanging out with his friends who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, could just as easily have been me in my early 20’s. Ng, a husband and father with a background in computers, was at the same stage of his life as I am today. My heart goes out to them because, in a sense, I am them. We all are.

Indeed, if only we lived in a post-racial America, we would prevent the tragedies that befell these men from ever occurring again…

by embracing our common humanity.