Stimulator of the Week
Lilly Smith- Neves
By more than 1,500 votes, 18-month-old Dorothy Lillian (Lilly) Smith-Neves, whose family owns Eastside Mart, takes the honor. The youngest of three, Lilly is often camped out behind the counter with a pile of Cheerios and a smile.
Fun With ‘Voter’ Fraud
by Scott Kingsley
When we wrote that voting for Stimulator of the Week was Chicago-style (Vote often!), we had not anticipated computer-aided voting fraud. continue...
Featured Articles Archive
Starting All Over Again
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009The other day, while driving along the near- Brown streets of the East Side, navigating the jaywalking students, one of them, older than the rest, turned suddenly, made eye contact and popped up his thumb. Who dares to hitchhike these days? Despite my reflexive shrug — “Sorry, but no . . . ” — I found myself stopping in the middle of traffic and throwing stuff off the passenger seat. The computer bag, the camera, the metal thermos, the bunch of grapes, the scraps of paper – they all went into the back and onto the floor. I hesitated, trying to dispose of the half-eaten raspberry yogurt in my coffee holder. Someone honked. The hitchhiker was yanking on the door.
Together, we forced open the balky door of my 1993 Previa van. “A guy in a van,” he said, “you can’t be too bad.” He hopped in, leaning forward at an awkward pitch because of his knapsack. “Sorry about the mess,” I apologized. “I’ve been living in my car since I lost my job.” (more...)
Worry for Wings
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009In keeping with one of the founding principles of Stimulus Times — trying to have a little fun in the face of potential economic ruin — we are helping to throw a little party next Tuesday afternoon. Xtreme Pizza & Wings at 272 Thayer St. will be the scene of the first-in- Rhode Island (and possibly the first anywhere) Handwringing Party. With Rhode Island unemployment running at 10.5 percent, nine out of ten of you, statistically speaking, are doing just fine. And, yet, we all are so worried. If you have not lost your job, you’re worried that you might lose your job. You are worried about the rent, the mortgage, the car payment, financial aid, finding a summer job, or — sorry, Class of ’09 — finding a real job. So, on April 28 from 4-5 p.m., let’s get together and worry and have a few laughs. Like to complain? Come by and kvetch (more...)
Fun With ‘Voter’ Fraud
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009When we wrote that voting for Stimulator of the Week was Chicago-style (Vote often!), we had not anticipated computer-aided voting fraud. (more...)
Rats Rule
Friday, May 1st, 2009Britain’s rats are relishing the worst recession in decades by growing their kinfolk to more than 50 million, nearly one rat per citizen.
The rats have found homes throughout England in vacant stores and unfinished houses, all casualties of the economic crisis. At the same time, leaner budgets have resulted in fewer trash collections and less extermination, so the rats are feasting on mounting piles of fetid garbage.
The National Pest Technicians Association Ltd. estimates that the rat population has grown 13 percent this year to more than 50 million, based on industry consensus. Residents have reported seeing rats jumping out of trash bins, darting from headlights and just hanging out.
Weekly garbage collections at 12.5 million British homes fell 7.1 percent in the last three months of 2008 from a year earlier, according to government data. At the same time, the number of vacant businesses and unfinished homes to harbor rodents has skyrocketed — a record 15 percent of British stores will be vacant by the end of 2009. (more...)