And it's on.

A couple of days ago, in this space, I pointed readers to a blog post by my Boston Phoenix colleague Carly Carioli calling out New York Times executive editor-turned-columnist Bill Keller for his hard line on copyright violations - and noting that the Times, just a couple of days before, had apparently violated the Phoenix's copyright: uploading a pdf of an article that ran in a Phoenix predecessor, The Real Paper, and linking to it from a Joe Nocera column.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has received plenty of ink - including a New York Times editorial page endorsement - for his "Buffett Rule" bill, named after the mega-rich investor Warren Buffett.

Buffett has argued that wealthy investors like him, who face a 15-percent tax under current law, should pay at the same rate as middle-class folk - roughly 30 percent.

My colleague at the Boston Phoenix, Carly Carioli, lights into New York Times columnist Bill Keller over copyright law and an apparent Times violation of the Phoenix's copyright. It's worth reading the whole thing, but here's a wee taste:

Bill Keller: I heard you like copyright. You wrote one provocative print column about it on Sunday, one blistering blog followup on Monday, and pointed to a third Times op-ed piece from Sunday (headline: "Perpetual War: Digital Pirates amd Creators") that says basically the same thing.

A long-awaited piece in the New Republic on Rhode Island's voter ID law has landed. The story, by Simon van Zuylen-Wood, asks why black liberal politicians here supported the bill and suggests anxiety over growing Latino political power - among elected officials black and white - is to blame.

The story recounts several "tales of corruption" - anecdotal stories of voter fraud cited by the bill's supporters - and concludes:

Former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling will be at a Game Stop in Bellingham, Massachusetts at midnight tonight for the release of his video game company 38 Studios' highly anticipated first title, "Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning."

The game has won positive early reviews and, as the Providence Journal reported this weekend, industry analysts are expecting sales of at least 1 million, which would make the game a moderate success.

There are, clearly, rewards for bold, blunt leadership in times of crisis.

Last year, Providence Mayor Angel Taveras declared a "category 5 hurricane" on the city's books and was able to wrangle significant savings from municipal unions and push through a tax hike.

Treasurer Gina Raimondo, meanwhile, made a very methodical case for an unsustainable state pension system and won an overhaul that landed her breathless national press.

For years, WJAR-TV was one of the only local television stations in the country - perhaps the only one - to employ an ombudsman, an independent arbiter of journalistic practices who weighs in on fairness in coverage, conflicts of interest for journalists and the like.

But no more. Back in July, the station dropped the position.

A subcommittee of the House's Homeland Security Committee is marking up its cybersecurity bill today and has just signed off on an amendment, proposed by Congressman Jim Langevin, that would require the Department of Homeland Security to work with regional cybersecurity collaboratives, like the one he has helped launch in Rhode Island.

The Providence Journal had a front page story today on the budget proposal Governor Chafee will unveil, tonight, in his "State of the State" address.

A leaked budget proposal is not unprecedented. But the story has angered some in the State House press corps, who accuse the Journal of breaking what is known, in the biz, as an "embargo" and unfairly beating them to the punch on the story.

Mediapeel, run by possible Congressional candidate Anthony Gemma, has apparently negotiated its way out of a contract with several local radio stations to do traffic reports.

A source says the stations affected include those owned by Atlanta-based Cumulus in Providence and parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut.

From Greg Sargent at the Washington Post (I've fixed a coupla typos):

Picture this scenario. The Senate holds a high-profile vote on a proposal focused directly on implementing the Buffett Rule, one that would bring the current tax rate for millionaires paying lower rates on investments up to 30 percent. This, at at exactly the moment when the GOP is picking a nominee who is worth $250 million and is personally benefitting to an enormous degree from the current rate — one that’s lower than many middle class taxpayers pay.

Yours truly was on WPRI's "Newsmakers" panel that taped this morning, with Congressman James Langevin as featured guest (thanks to WPRI's Tim White and Ted Nesi for having me on). Among the interesting tidbits: as Nesi has already tweeted, Langevin spoke in support of the prayer banner at Cranston High School West.

I pushed the Congressman a bit on whether the cybersecurity threat he's warned about is as significant as he would have us believe.

WPRO talk radio personalities Dan Yorke, John DePetro, and Ron St. Pierre, all facing expiring contracts, are in talks to sign new contracts with the station, the Phoenix has learned.

There has been uncertainty at the station since last winter, when news broke that Atlanta-based Cumulus Media was moving to buy WPRO's old parent company, Citadel Broadcasting.

Occupy Providence can claim a big win with the opening of a day shelter for the homeless.

The group's General Assembly had demanded a day center in exchange for leaving Burnside Park - a clever push to turn the city's concerns about Occupyers' health and safety, as the weather grew colder, into a focus on the health and safety of the homeless.