Saturday, September 20, 2008

Envelope, please!


Forbes Magazine just released their list of America's 10 Most Stressful Cities, and I am not a bit surprised to see that my former city, Providence, RI, was number 9! Providence boasts a very high unemployment rate (7.9%) and an expensive cost of living, and the best kept "secret" is that the government is run by the mob. For real. The former mayor of Providence, Vincent "Buddy" Cianci, spent almost 5 years in federal prison for his thumbs-down choices, as my son would say. During his 21 years in Providence politics, he was booted after 11 years as mayor due to an assault conviction. The story was that he had his driver and bodyguard restrain his wife's lover while Cianci burned him with a cigarette and urinated on him. Yep, nice guy. He was re-elected (!!) seven years later, only to be charged in a federal court with 27 counts of racketeering and corruption and all that good stuff. He was convicted of only 1 felony count ("corruption"), and spent almost 5 years doing his time. The Fox sitcom "Family Guy" even named their fictional junior high school after him: Buddy Cianci Jr. High. And there are 8 other cities more stressful than Providence?? Wow!


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