Whitcomb: Cool the Rage at the DMV; Long Road to School Reform; Five Sectors for RI?

Monday, October 21, 2019

Robert Whitcomb, Columnist

 

View Larger +

Robert Whitcomb, columnist

"Angelic, lonely, autochthonous, one white

Cloud lolls, unmoving, on an azure which
Is called the sky, and in gold drench of light,
No leaf, however gold, may stir, nor a single blade twitch,

Though autumn-honed, of the cattail by the pond. …’’

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

-- From “Timeless, Twinned,’’ by Robert Penn Warren (1905-1989, poet, novelist and literary critic). A Southerner by birth, he later lived in Connecticut and Vermont)

 

‘’Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace.’’

-- Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915, American writer and editor)

 

 

View Larger +

DMV

DMV Hell

I feel for the people who must wait to be served at the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles’ often hectic headquarters, in Cranston. But I also pity the people who must deal with the sometimes ill-tempered and ill-prepared folks who show up at DMV offices.  In many states, complaints about motor-vehicle agencies are rife. It’s not just Rhode Island!

 

Members of the public could help reduce long lines by not waiting until the start or end of the month to renew registrations and drivers’ licenses. Procrastination is a big cause of the long lines.  Don’t blame the DMV for that. Folks could also seek out DMV offices less likely to be crowded than the main office. Hit this link to see branch offices besides the main one, in Cranston:

 

It mystifies me that so many people show up at such public services (such as at post offices) to wait in line in the morning when if they got up 15 minutes earlier many wouldn’t have to wait in line. There are often ways to avoid long waits but too many people do the same thing at the same time.

 

The DMV has proposed, quite reasonably, that a “late fee’’ of $15 be levied on those with expired licenses and registrations who are trying to renew. There’s no doubt that would encourage more people to renew in advance, thus speeding and smoothing the DMV’s processing. Lots of businesses impose late fees to boost efficiency.

 

Obviously, encouraging people to do as much DMV business as possible on its Web site by the agency steadily working to make the online process as simple and economical as possible would help, too.

 

And, oh yes, you can get your car dealer to register your vehicles when you buy them. 

 

Before you angrily descend on the agency.

 

No politician would dare say this, but sometimes the public is as much at fault as much as an agency.

 

Of course, a central problem is that we’re far too dependent on cars, in part because our public transportation system is far too thin. In the fullness of time, wouldn’t it be great if there were electrified commuter trains going up and down the east and west sides of Narragansett Bay? And because of the economic necessity for Greater Providence to become more integrated with far more prosperous Greater Boston, the current MBTA service between the two cities using diesel locomotives should be replaced with “electric multiple units,’’ which are faster, cleaner and quieter.

 

View Larger +

Hope High School Providence

The Long Haul for Providence Schools

It’s good news that the State of Rhode Island will oversee the Providence public schools for at least for five years. Turning around a mostly failing (Classical High School one of the exceptions) urban school system is an immensely difficult and complicated task. Consider the key constituencies: students, parents, teachers, unions, local and state politicians and, yes, local businesses, some of whose long-term health depends on the quality of the education their potential employees receive.  Fixing a school system is a lot tougher than turning around a troubled company in which a CEO, backed by the board, can order things to be done immediately.

 

Reform will be arduous, but on its success will hang much of the future socio-economic success or failure of the Ocean State.

 

The key person now is RI Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green,  the decisive former New Yorker who will be in charge of virtually everything in the Providence School District. And that includes teachers’ union contracts, which obviously will have to be revised – and soon. And how will she deal with the drive for more charter schools?

 

And always look for turnaround lessons from other states – especially, of course, Massachusetts, which may have the best public schools in America.

 

Five Sectors for Rhode Island

Bruce Katz, who helped write a report that urged the Ocean State to, as The Boston Globe reports, focus on “five ‘advanced industry’ sectors’’ has cited progress in these sectors, as listed by The Globe as “biomedical innovation, cybersecurity and data analytics, maritime technology and manufacturing, advanced business services, and design and custom manufacturing.’’

 

That’s fine but except for “marine technology and manufacturing,’’ none involve a particularly strong local comparative advantage. Rather, they can all be done in, say, the world-ranked tech center of Greater Boston. What Rhode Island can/should offer is, perhaps, lower costs and an easier lifestyle for employees.

 

To read more, please hit this link:

 

 

View Larger +

Columbus Statue on Elmwood

Encouraging Vandalism

It would be briefly satisfying (but not legal) if Providence City Councilor Kat Kerwin could be removed from office for defending the vandalism involved in the splattering of red paint  across the beautiful statue of Christopher Columbus, on Elmwood Avenue, with a sign “Stop Celebrating Genocide’’ placed against  the pedestal, on which “Genocide’’  was also painted. She said: “I think the statue should be removed – I think healthy civil disobedience is really good for society.’’  Would she be willing to go to jail herself for such disobedience? I doubt it.

 

Education blogger Erika Sanzi had a good response, in a post entitled “Providence City Councilor is Wrong to Defend Vandalism."

 

“This is arrogant and dangerous talk from an elected official. First of all, she does not get to have the final word for other people on what does and does not oppress them.

 

“And secondly, vandalism and destruction of public property are not only against the law but can escalate quickly and turn dangerous. Taken to its logical conclusion, her argument could be used to justify vandalizing and destroying private property, including hers." 

 

If the people’s representatives want to remove (and move to, say, museums) such statues, let them take a vote to do so.

                                            

On Columbus: The arrival of Europeans in the so-called New World brought much death to the Native Americans, mostly in the form of diseases for which they had no immunity but also in being killed directly by the far better armed Europeans. Colonialization brought huge technological advances – some good, some menacing -- to the Americas. And Native Americans showed themselves as sanguinary and brutal, indeed as “genocidal,’’ as the colonists, though they lacked the Europeans’ firepower. Indeed, “genocide’’ has long been a business model for groups around the world.

 

Which reminds me that the African slaves captured and brought to the Americas were purchased from – Africans. I suppose this should go under the heading “People are terrible.’’ And history can be very, very disturbing and complicated.

To read more, hit this link:

 

 

View Larger +

Mayor will continue to be paid for months

More Fun to Yak Than to Govern Anyway

Fall River Mayor Jasiel F. Correia II, facing federal indictments, says he’ll step aside and let City Council President Cliff Ponte run city government (while Mr. Correia continues to collect his salary and benefits) until the 27-year-old Correia’s current term ends, in January.  In any case, after listening to the sublimely glib and brazen Spindle City mayor speak the other day, I’d be surprised if he, like the late disgraced former Providence Mayor Vincent Cianci, did not show that he’d be most competent as a radio talk show host. But, like Mr. Cianci, he might have to wait to get out of prison before he can go full show business.

 

 

Lakes Fill Up With Invaders

“When nature is overridden, she takes her revenge.’’

 

-- Marya Mannes (1904-1990), American writer

 

Kudos to WGBH for its story describing many lakes and ponds in Massachusetts (and by implication all over southern New England)  being filled up/ruined by the growth in them of such invasive plants as Eurasian Milfoil, Water Chestnut, Curly-leaved Pondweed and Purple Loosestrife.

 

Their expansion is being intensified by the overuse of phosphorous-based lawn fertilizers as well as by polluted-water runoff. The environmental damage done by the American obsession with hyper-green lawns is immense, and the rainstorm flow from so many square miles of parking lots ain’t a happy thing either. The warming climate also speeds invasive-plant growth.

 

These invasive plants have ruined fishing and swimming in many ponds and lakes. The solutions, at least in preventing more lakes and ponds from being ruined, include better monitoring of boats that might be bringing in invasive species, creating more local nonprofit organizations to help monitor, and enforce, protections, including more rigorously limiting fertilizer use and runoff from roads and parking lots near lakes and ponds.

 

 

View Larger +

Newspapers collaborate

Let Papers Collaborate

The implosion of the newspaper business means a less informed citizenry, a decline in civic participation and cooperation and an increase in private and public sector corruption -- all very harmful to the fragile system called democracy. So Congress should pass a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. David Cicilline that would let newspapers collaborate on negotiating with tech-platform oligopolies, especially Facebook  (beloved of Vladimir Putin and other dictators who use it for misinformation campaigns) and Google. These companies are effectively stealing newspapers’ content and using it to further increase their gargantuan profits. The measure has bipartisan support. “This is about our ability to have access to trustworthy reliable news information at the local level, and that’s critical to the functioning of our democracy,” said Mr. Cicilline. But would autocrat wannabe Trump, who doesn’t believe in the free press, veto it?

 

 

Tracking College Applicants

More Orwellian stuff: The Washington Post reports that some colleges are identifying applicants whose families might be most able to pay to attend by installing tracking software on college Web sites. The tools let admissions offices “build rich profiles on individual students and quickly determine whether they have enough family income to help meet revenue goals,’’ The Post says. Meanwhile, one wonders how many low-income students get less favorable attention from admissions officials due to lack of high-speed Internet access and not owning a smartphone. Bradley Shear, a Maryland lawyer who wants to strengthen students’ online privacy, told The Post:

 

“I don’t think the algorithm should run the admissions department,’’ he said. And yet algorithms seem to taking over much of our lives, especially those regarding money….

 

To read the article, please hit this link:

 

‘Religious’ Phonies on Parade

Attorney  General Richard Barr, a ruthless Washington fixer, who is hard at work trying to protect the most corrupt administration in American history, run by  a traitor, thief, con man and sexual predator, recently delivered a hilariously hypocritical speech at the University of Notre Dame denouncing “moral secularists’’ and by implication rejecting the First Amendment’s separation of church and state.  Barr presents himself as a devout Catholic. The actions of this well-practiced liar belie that. He’s as big a phony as millionaire television Protestant “evangelists’’. These guys (yes, they’re almost all guys) are working nonstop to undermine real Christianity (see the Gospels); there’s money and political power in their project.

 

To read more, please hit this link:

 

 

Betrayal of Kurds

So, who benefits most from Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds?  Vladimir Putin. But many MAGA Americans like Trump’s move into a chaotic isolationism, though as we lose more allies, their feelings may change.

 

Celebrities Friends

Ellen DeGeneres has come under fire for her friendship with George W. Bush. Well, as my father used to say, “Your friends you can pick; your relatives you’re stuck with.’’  

 

Of course, many people find W personally charming. (I’ve seen him work a room almost as smoothly as Bill Clinton.) In the 2000 election, the line was that you’d want to have a beer with him but not with stodgy, wonky, boring Al Gore.  

 

Celebs tend to become pals with other celebs – it boosts their sense of importance/validation, and celebs do tend to be charismatic. But it’s intriguing that Ms. DeGeneres is happy to overlook the catastrophe that was W’s presidency (first handed to him by the Republican majority on the Supreme Court). He got us into the astonishingly ill-planned Iraq War, which destabilized the Mideast and helped set into motion the mess we see there now. His administration, which, like Trump’s, was run for the benefit of the very rich, oversaw a  financial-deregulation regime  that helped lead to the Crash of 2008 and the Great Recession, which of course helped lead to the ignorance-based and demagogue-rich Tea Party and the Electoral College installing the criminal regime that we now live under.

 

But, gee, W is so much fun… And he, apparently like most or all of the most famous Bushes, didn’t vote for Trump. It’s a complex world.

 

 

View Larger +

President Donald Trump

Trump’s Real Estate Fraud

A ProPublica investigation has found yet more evidence of Trump fraud, in this case in the New York City real estate business. Among the conclusions:

 

“Documents obtained by ProPublica show stark differences in how Donald Trump’s businesses reported some expenses, profits and occupancy figures for two Manhattan buildings, giving a lender different figures than they provided to New York City tax authorities. The discrepancies made the buildings appear more profitable to the lender — and less profitable to the officials who set the buildings’ property tax.

“For instance, Trump told the lender that he took in twice as much rent from one building as he reported to tax authorities during the same year, 2017. He also gave conflicting occupancy figures for one of his signature skyscrapers, located at 40 Wall Street.’’

Remember, suckers, the taxes that crooks such as Trump don’t pay you have to help out paying. Trump has been expert, or at least brazen, in evading taxes at all levels. That leaves honest people holding the bag.

 

Trump’s corruption is well known in New York – one reason that New York banks don’t lend to him. His main banker is the international money-laundering Deutsche Bank.

 

For more evidence of Trump fraud and tax evasion in his New York real estate business, hit this link:

 

 

xxx

 

Sometimes it seems that the Washington pols, from Trump down, who most often wear American flag lapels are the most likely to be crooks.

 

Hollywood in an Old Church graveyard

A sign of the greatness of America: A friend, the Rev. Paul Zahl, showed me the gravestone of famed screenwriter, director and producer Joseph L. Mankiewicz in, of all places, among the Wasps buried in the graveyard of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Bedford, N.Y. (The building of the church, in 1807-09, was aided by Founding Father and first U.S. Chief Justice John Jay.) Mr. Mankiewicz’s last wife was Episcopalian; he came from a German Jewish background. On his gravestone are these words:

 

“TIME is finite! It’s your TIME now – no longer just God’s TIME – your TIME. Make it good to live in!’’

 

-- JLM’’

 

xxx

 

Even along such usually depressing stretches as Route 128, fall foliage can be exhilarating, as I appreciated the other day while in a long slowdown on that infamous but economically essential road. There’s one bucolic stretch, near the Charles River, that must look pretty much as it did before Europeans arrived, if you narrow your gaze.

 

I love the show  when the first hard freeze of the season causes so many leaves to fall  off the trees in a few hours. But then we have to put up with weeks of shrieking leaf blowers.

 

Those Heavy Museums

Happy 150th birthday to Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, surely one of the world’s greatest art museums and a tribute to the cultural awareness of what used to be called “The Athens (as in ancient  Greece) of America’’ and, only half-jokingly “The Hub of the Universe’’. Still, I much prefer small, intimate museums. You find them in many small cities that used to be prosperous, such as in Upstate New York, where local factory owners were proud to help bring “high culture’’ to their burgs.

 

I find the big museums such as the MFA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City, oppressive in their scale and their acres of cold stone. The RISD Museum is about as big as I like them.

 

Thank You?

 

The little courtesies of daily life continue to erode. You notice this in such places as fast-food outlets, where few customers bother saying “thank you’’ to the harried, cheated and underpaid servers/cashiers. They just bark out: “Give me a tuna sandwich,’’ etc., and proffer no thanks when they’re handed their orders. With all our electronic devices, with their instant distractions, has come the fading of the little kindnesses that make days brighter.

 

How exhausting is it to say “Thanks’’?


 

Going Underground

We’d do well to know more about what’s below us as well as what we can see. A good start would be to read Providence native Will Hunt’s elegant book Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet. It’s a story of caves, tunnels (including one in Providence that fascinated Mr. Hunt as a boy), subways, sewers, tombs, etc. I’d rather fall out of an  airplane than be trapped underground but Mr. Hunt, in his research, was of sterner  stuff as he went about his research in his campaign to cure us of “surface chauvinism.’’

 

Related Articles

 

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

 
 

Sign Up for the Daily Eblast

I want to follow on Twitter

I want to Like on Facebook