For most Americans, the second Monday of every October is just another long weekend. America observes the federal holiday of Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer responsible for several voyages across the Atlantic. Many groups, including the large population of Italian-Americans in Rhode Island, choose to celebrate Columbus as a symbol of pride, and of what […]
For information about the upcoming RI general election on Nov 8, see the web site – vote.sos.ri.gov – that explains how and where to vote, options for early voting, and lists of candidates for all offices. RI has early in-person voting Oct 19 through Nov 7 at city and town halls; no special application is […]
I’m not gonna lie, October is a solid month, especially here in RI. The leaves start changing, the go-go-go energy of summer fades away and people get a little more pensive and reflective (hopefully not too reflective, though — stave off the depression at least until December). In a sense, the more temperate weather brings […]
Under the Influence The legendary writer and public provocateur H.L. Mencken once wrote that a serious journalist had to do two things: Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. That has been one of the touchstones for Phillipe and Jorge since we have been writing this column continuously (albeit for a variety of media outlets) […]
Red Herrings Despite all the caterwauling over the atrocious, bought-and-paid-for decision to knock down Roe v. Wade by conservative Supreme Court Justices (pardon the oxymoron), Phillipe & Jorge are finding solace elsewhere. That is why we are comforted by the facts that show that there are more guns in America than people. This is helpful […]
Dear Motif Readers- Recently, we witnessed the rollback of the fundamental human right of bodily autonomy. I once believed that the Supreme Court, as designed, could remain above politics — but as is now clear, it is a victim of partisanship like all of our systems, and no right that we currently enjoy is sacred. […]
Hi Folks- We want to address a comment that was made by one of our team members to Josh from The American Band last week. It was completely inappropriate and not sanctioned by the magazine. We deeply apologize for that response – part of our mission is to celebrate the small and upcoming bands, and […]
Apocalypse Now? Little more can be said about the atrocities being carried out in Ukraine. They are being led by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump’s best pal, who has morphed into a Hitler for our age. Phillipe and Jorge have lived through plenty of what seemed to be scary moments in our own presidency, […]
Bilow’s Law of Twitter: “No worthwhile ideas can be expressed in 140 characters, and even fewer in 280.” My public journalist Twitter account (@MikeBilow) was created in 2015 by which time Twitter was fairly mature, although still long before the 2016 election and 2020 pandemic that saw social media sink into a swamp of misinformation […]
To the Editor, Phillipe and Jorge, who are right about almost everything else, completely blew it by beating up on Representative David Bennett’s bill banning nips in the March 2nd “Phillipe & Jorge: Tips for nips and soup Nazis.” https://motifri.com/phillipe-jorge-tips-for-nips-and-soup-nazis/Banning nips is a good idea, and Rep Bennett is a hero for proposing his bill.Rhode […]