Preemption is the best medicine - click here.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Another Side of the Immigration Debate
We reap the benefits of cheap farm
and meatpacking labor in the form of low-priced food, thanks to the
contributions of millions of undocumented workers.
Until
a few years ago, Rosa Acosta had never even seen a flush toilet. She raised her
12 children in a tiny adobe home in rural Jalisco, Mexico. Several of her kids
left it to work in the United States. One son, who left at age 12 to earn money
as a farmworker in California, returned home to Rosa and his siblings after
only a year. Another, her oldest, still works in California’s fields. Neither
crossed the border legally.
After
two decades of backbreaking labor in California, her oldest son and his family
still live in extreme poverty. Out of his meager earnings, he sends some money
back to Mexico. For many years, he had never even met his youngest siblings who
were born after he left, and his mother had never met his children, her
grandchildren, as neither could easily cross the border.
Omega oils are good for you
Omega and Liver Inflammation
From: Andy Soos, ENN.com
Omega-3 fatty acids are
fats commonly found in marine and plant oils. Research at Oregon State
University has found that one particular omega-3 fatty acid has a powerful
effect in preventing liver inflammation and fibrosis — common problems that are
steadily rising along with the number of Americans who are overweight.
Some of
the other potential health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids supplementation
remain controversial. They are considered essential fatty acids, meaning that
they cannot be synthesized by the human body but are vital for normal
metabolism.
Betting on Gambling
Rather than treating the growing
addiction to gambling, the states prey on it.
Tainted money
For your state,
When legislators
Take the bait.
For your state,
When legislators
Take the bait.
Shame on George Tremblay, Dan Slattery and Tom Gentz
CCA Town Councilors frivolous response to gun violence
 |
| Ashton and Alton Perry |
By Will Collette
Only one day after Town Council member George Tremblay (CCA) publicly heaped scorn on a request from Providence Mayor Angel Tavares for RI
municipalities to take a stand against gun violence – calling it “a knee-jerk reaction to
a terrible tragedy” – gun violence struck close to home.
On February 26, Stonington,
CT grandmother, Debra Denison, took her two grandsons, aged 6 months and
two years old, from day care in North Stonington, drove them to a Foxwoods golf
course and shot them and herself dead with a 38 caliber pistol.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Special Delivery
How to save the Post Office
By Keith Knight
Click here to see his ingenious idea!
Seriously, I love this idea.
Click here to see his ingenious idea!
Seriously, I love this idea.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
M51: The Whirlpool
Galaxy in Dust and Stars
The Whirlpool Galaxy is
a classic spiral galaxy. At only 30 million light years distant
and fully 60 thousand light years across, M51, also known as NGC 5194, is
one of the brightest and most picturesque
galaxies on the sky.
The below image is a digital
combination of a ground-based image from the 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory and a
space-based image from the Hubble
Space Telescope highlighting sharp features normally too
red to be seen.
Anyone with a good pair
of binoculars,
however, can see this Whirlpool toward
the constellation of
the Hunting Dogs (Canes
Venatici. M51 is
a spiral galaxy of type Sc and
is the dominant member of a whole group of galaxies.
Astronomers speculate
that M51's spiral structure is
primarily due to its gravitational
interaction with a smaller galaxy just off the top of the image.
The End of Cod
By Erik Loomis in RIFuture.org
Reductions of 77% in the Gulf of Maine and 61% off Cape Georges
are in order. Many fishermen will lose their jobs. Coastal communities will
likely suffer serious economic problems, even if they have developed something
of a tourist economy; the ones that haven’t will struggle much more.
Holy guacamole!
Avocados Linked to Better Diet Quality
From: Allison Winter, ENN.com
Break out that
guacamole! New data suggests avocado consumption may be associated with better
diet quality!
Avocados, also known as
the alligator pear for their shape, green skin and rough texture can be found
in dishes all around the world. From adding them to dips, spreads, salads and
sandwiches, avocados not only add to the flavor of your meal, but carry
multiple health benefits as well.
New World Disorder
Modern warfare is an exercise in
savagery.
They
were droning on about drones the other day in Washington.
The
Senate Intelligence (ha-ha) Committee was grilling CIA chief-designate John
Brennan on the use of unmanned aircraft during his tenure as President Barack
Obama’s adviser on terrorism.
Drones
are being used a lot, according to Brennan, who was in charge of the drone
program. But only for a good cause.
If you can’t comply, change the rules
Millstone
nuclear plant wants federal OK to use hotter water
I
would be very shocked if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not grant
Dominion Resources’ request to raise the temperature limit on the water they
draw from Long Island Sound to cool the Millstone nuclear power plant, which is
just 20 miles west of Charlestown.
Millstone
delivers 50% of Connecticut’s power and 12% of New England’s total supply.
Last
summer, Millstone became the first nuclear power plant in the US to have to
shut down because the sea water used for coolant exceeded what the NRC
considered to be the safety limit. Thank you, climate change.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Senator, who are you for?
Depends on how you define "average"
By Dave Horsey
To get the whole scoop with commentary from Horsey, click here.
To get the whole scoop with commentary from Horsey, click here.
Fun with worms
The Worm Ladies of Charlestown, Inc. Event
Join us for a Vermicomposting
Workshop in Peacedale, RI February 9, 2013 from 10-12. Vermicomposting Workshop Agenda
This is the postponement date for the February workshop which was cancelled due to weather.
This is the postponement date for the February workshop which was cancelled due to weather.
When
Saturday March 9, 2013 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM EST
Add to Calendar
Saturday March 9, 2013 from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM EST
Add to Calendar
It’s Time to Move Forward on Climate
President Obama has the power to
make the transformation to a clean-energy economy.
As
President Barack Obama’s second term gets underway, Americans are expecting big
actions from him — especially on climate disruption and clean energy. The
decision to block the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline should be the
cornerstone of his positive, solutions-oriented climate legacy.
Tar
sands oil is the most toxic fossil fuel on the planet. It leaves in its wake
scarred landscapes and a web of pipelines and polluting refineries all the
while delaying our transition to a clean energy economy. In addition, tar sands
oil production produces three times the
climate-disrupting pollution of conventional oil.
Downwardly Mobile Nation
America's working class has been
magically transformed into the working poor.
Work my butt off
Plain to see,
Bootstraps are
No help to me.
Plain to see,
Bootstraps are
No help to me.
Bridgeport
— Connecticut’s largest city — is also my affluent
state’s capital of poverty. Even though it’s part of the nation’s
richest region, the rapidly rising
number of children living
in poverty in Bridgeport is
already twice the state average.
Class
segregation can help shield the elite from an uncomfortable set of facts.
America’s median
household income may have fallen sharply since the Great Recession began, but
among the richest 5 percent, growth is back and robust.
Sequestration, Rhode Island and Charlestown
A million here, a
million there and pretty soon we’re talking about real money
We’re just hours away from another one of the bogus
emergencies concocted by the Republican members of Congress to, er, do
something to make all of us afraid of, er, communists and socialists and other
assorted threats.
This new “emergency” is an economic bomb called “sequestration”
that is set to go off later this week if the Republicans don’t get an agreement
from President Obama to cancel health care reform, gut Medicare and Medicaid,
slash Social Security payments, end environmental regulation and who knows what
else they want. Oh, and no new taxes on the uber-wealthy. “Sequestration” means
automatic cuts applied
fairly randomly throughout the federal budget, hitting both defense and
non-defense items, but sparing – for now – Medicare and Social Security.
I wish I was joking or lampooning the Republican
posture on this subject, but indeed that’s what they want…and they’ve said so
on the talk shows and in the news sound bites we’ve been hearing for weeks. Once again, they're holding the economy hostage and demanding we fork over Medicare and Social Security for evisceration
The White House has published a state-by-state run-down
on the impact of the cuts. Read the report for Rhode Island by clicking here. The Washington
Post published an excellent interactive, state-by-state run-down – click here.
Monday, February 25, 2013
No live coverage of tonight’s second half of the February Town Council meeting
Not unless the
International Space Station fell out of the sky and dropped on Town Hall
By Will Collette
The agenda for the second half of the Town Council’s
February agenda, Monday, February 25, is almost totally dominated by the
Chariho School District and the on-going blather over charter schools.
Rather than listen to an array of speakers demand their
right to send their kids to schools other than Chariho, I’m watching re-runs of
the Mentalist and Star Trek: Next Generation recorded on
DVR. Time much better spent.
Green energy, smart energy
By
LESLIE FRIDAY/ecoRI.org News contributor
To
be green, sometimes you need to spend a little green. That’s the lesson
Massachusetts officials have learned by enticing homeowners to invest in
renewable energy through tax breaks, rebates and other economic incentives.
Since
1979, Massachusetts has offered a $1,000, one-time tax credit to homeowners who
install solar systems, but that incentive didn’t exactly push residents to
invest in these relatively costly systems.
What
really drove the solar energy market, according to Dwayne Breger, director of
the Division of Renewable Energy at the Massachusetts Department of Energy
Resources (DOER), was the legislature’s passage in 2008 of the Green Communities Act.
It's All the Same Love, So It's About Time For Me to Raise Up
Speaking out once and for all about my support
for LGBTQ rights (with apologies to Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for the title).
DISCLAIMER: The following is the opinion of myself and
myself alone. It does not necessarily reflect those of the staff here at Patch
or anywhere for that matter, but it is possible. You may not like my opinion,
but that's fine. That's your right. I don't agree with it, but I respect your
right to have an opinion.
I’m tired of being silent about my support for
LGBTQ rights.
Cross Mills Fire District saves taxpayers a cool $1.55 million
Financing on new
firehouse locked in at an amazing rate
 |
| Not only under budget, but bonded at a very low interest rate |
It’s not very often that taxpayers get good news on major
public construction projects, but that’s what happened with the controversial
Cross Mills Fire District station on Old Post Road.
Readers may recall that this recently opened fire house
sparked months of controversy when the Planning Commission attempted to force
the fire district to shrink the size of the facility to dimensions smaller than
that needed to accommodate modern fire equipment and to substitute some other
material, such as wood shingles, instead of brick.
After those problems were worked out, the District could
then focus on getting the station built and, of course, paid for.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
They descended from Cats….
Mystery of Dog Evolution Solved
From: Roger Greenway, ENN.com
How did modern dogs
evolve from wolves or other predecessor canines? Scientists have long thought
that modern dogs evolved from wild wolves that became accustomed to human
interaction and then were deliberately bred by early humans as pets.
Part of the ancient
mystery of the makeup of the modern Western dog has been solved by a team led
by researchers at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary
Medicine.
Several thousand years
after dogs originated in the Middle East and Europe, some of them moved south
with ancient farmers, distancing themselves from native wolf populations and
developing a distinct genetic profile that is now reflected in today’s canines.
Government transparency a statewide problem, not just in Charlestown
New Open Records Law
Needs Enforcement
By Steven Brown in RIFuture.org
Between 1999 and June 2012, the Attorney General’s office filed
lawsuits against public bodies for violating the state’s Access to Public
Records Act (APRA) on only six occasions, less than 4% of the time after
finding that violations of the law had been committed. That is one of the
findings of a report issued today by the ACLU of Rhode
Island, which examines past
enforcement of the open records law by the AG’s office and urges stronger
enforcement in the future.
In June 2012, the General Assembly enacted comprehensive
amendments to APRA, and expanded the circumstances for imposing penalties
against public bodies that violate the Act. This prompted the ACLU to examine
how APRA had been enforced by the Attorney General’s office, the state agency
explicitly given enforcement powers under APRA, prior to those amendments.
Is Bigfoot Alive and Well in Rhode Island? Serving on the Charlestown Town Council?
In very serious news, researchers claim to
have used genetic testing to verify Bigfoot's existence, and he might be in
Rhode Island.
A team of researchers led by Melba Ketchum, a
Texas veterinarian, claims to have used DNA samples to prove the existence of
Bigfoot, reports the Huffington Post. On the team’s Sasquatch Genome Project’s website, it claims the genetic testing also
confirmed the hairy beast is half-human, the result of a human mating with an
unknown primate about 13,000 years ago.
Mainstream science journals rejected the research.
Instead, the group self-published the first volume on an online science journal DeNovo Journal of Science last week.
“Rather than spend another five years just
trying to find a journal to publish and hoping that decent, open-minded
reviewers would be chosen, we acquired the rights to this journal and renamed
it so we would not lose the passing peer reviews that are expected by the
public and the scientific community,” Ketchum said.
Another paranormal research team claims to have recorded
evidence of sasquatches roaming the forests around Exeter, West Greenwich and
Cumberland.
Marriage equality – Senate head count is close by all accounts
Sen. Dennis
Algiere – undecided – is a critical swing vote
 |
| Sen. Dennis Algiere - critical swing vote |
If
you are one of 57% of Rhode
Islanders who strongly believes it’s time for Rhode Island to join the
rest of New England in authorizing same sex marriage, there’s a job for you to
do.
Marriage
equality legislation passed the RI
House by a wide margin. Local Representatives Donna Walsh, Larry Valencia,
Teresa Tanzi and Bob Craven were sponsors of the
House bill.
Now
it’s time for the RI Senate to vote and the outlook for that vote is for a very
close vote. Neither supporters nor opponents claim to have the votes. Both
sides agree that the issue is still very much in the air.
Local
State Senators Cathie Cool Rumsey and Sue Sosnowski are both co-sponsors of the
Senate bill, so their “yes” vote is assured.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Lose Your Lawn
Turning your lawn into something
more beautiful and useful would save time and money while curbing pollution and
water usage.
 |
| Plant more trees! Now! |
Have
you taken your hounds fox hunting lately? You haven’t? Well, maybe you’ve gone
to visit a friend’s estate in a horse and carriage? You haven’t done that
either, have you? Most of the popular trends of 19th century
British aristocracy are not the norm in 21st century America.
Except for one: the lawn.
Centuries
ago, most Europeans (and their descendants on our side of the pond) produced
food on their land. Whether in the form of kitchen gardens, farm fields, or
pastures for raising livestock, most folks relied on their land in order to
eat.
Only
the rich could afford to flaunt their wealth by devoting large areas of land to
an inedible, yet beautifully manicured, green lawn. Back then, without lawn mowers,
lawn maintenance required paying a servant to “mow” the lawn with a scythe.
Lawns were mega status symbols.
Though the plastics industry's propaganda make turn your stomach....
Never underestimate the ability of the corporate media to come
up with a ridiculous reason for why common sense environmentalism should be
ignored. The latest example: plastic bag bans make people sick.
“Rhode Island’s leaders have a new Public Enemy No. 1: plastic
bags,” proclaims WPRI blogger Ted Nesi. “But is this bit of feel-good policymaking
actually bad for public health?”
In reverse order: No, plastic bag bans don’t make people sick –
anymore than anything else used for food storage and not cleaned properly. No,
this isn’t feel good policy – it will actually go a long way to cleaning up
Narragansett Bay and help the aquatic ecosystem thrive. And, no, RI doesn’t
have a new public enemy – the enemy is still the corporate forces that prevent
the public from having a rational debate about anything that doesn’t line their
wallets.
American labor and business agree it's time to change immigration policy
"Current immigration policies are rigid, cumbersome and inefficient"
Joint Statement of Shared Principles by U.S. Chamber of
Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue & AFL-CIO President Richard
Trumka February 21, 2013
They’re going to keep holding Town Council meetings until they get them right
Second half of February
session on Monday, Feb. 25
The Real Agenda
By Will Collette
Nimble Town Council Boss Tom Gentz allowed a lot of discussion on
February 11 on items that have been officially postponed to February 25. But
just because an item has already been pretty much talked to death doesn’t stop
our stalwart Town Council from doing it all over again.
As a regular Progressive Charlestown public service, I have prepared a
version of the Council agenda that takes into account changes to the order of
business that this Council always does. Maybe they change around items just to
see if anyone notices that the printed agenda they distribute bears little
resemblance to what they actually do. But for those of you who actually like to
see the actual order of business (and my snarky commentary), here it is.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Not just for sexy vegans
Photo and text by KARA
DiCAMILLO/ecoRI.org News contributor
One of my friends from
college is a chef in Los Angeles. He recently sent me his new cookbook called
“The Sexy Vegan Cookbook: Extraordinary Food from an Ordinary Dude.” When I
opened the package I was a bit skeptical because, as you know, I am not vegan.
But I do love food and with my weekly CSA veggie pickup I knew there would be
options for experimenting.
Brian Patton started
experimenting with vegan food in hopes of losing weight, and quickly became a
YouTube sensation. I started following his instructional cooking videos a few
years ago. As his witty, ukulele-playing alter ego “The
Sexy Vegan,” Brian gained
quite a large following.
License deadline is next week – February 28
Limited Number of New Commercial Fishing Licenses Available for
2013
 |
| Don't let Leo Mainelli see you! |
PROVIDENCE
(RIDEM news release) - The Department of Environmental Management announces
that a limited number of new commercial fishing licenses will be made available
this year.
A total
of 23 new quahog, 11 new soft-shell clam, and six new restricted finfish
endorsements on commercial fishing licenses will be available for the 2013
fishing season.
Don't let the door hit you in the ass...
By Bob Plain in RIFuture.org
As the progressive left in the Ocean State calls on the General
Assembly to reverse the Carcieri-era tax breaks for the rich, the best defense
the right has come up with is that the affluent will move away if we ask them
to pay their fair share. While I’m fairly confident most folks are smart enough
not to make such life-altering decisions based on the singular factor of tax
rates, for those of you who aren’t, here’s a personal story for you: