New research suggests that heavy soybean oil intake may disrupt the gut

America’s Most Popular Cooking Oil May Be Harming Your Intestines

By SciTechDaily.com

A diet high in soybean oil is found to encourage the growth of harmful bacteria such as adherent invasive E. coli in the gut. Credit: Sladek lab, UC Riverside

Soybean oil or “vegetable oil” is everywhere in the American diet. It is used in salad dressings, sauces, fried foods, packaged snacks, frozen meals, and many restaurant meals. Most people may consume it regularly without realizing how much they are getting.

New research from the University of California, Riverside suggests that high soybean oil intake may affect more than body weight. In mouse studies, it has been linked to changes in gut bacteria, a weaker intestinal barrier, greater susceptibility to ulcerative colitis, and metabolic problems.

The findings do not prove that soybean oil causes these diseases in people. But they do raise concerns about how often this inexpensive, widely used oil appears in processed and restaurant foods.

Anti-vaxxer mom likely to have her lawsuit dismissed

She is charged with murdering her twins whom she claimed were killed by vaccines

Walker Bragman

An Idaho woman whose claims that vaccines killed her toddler twins were promoted by Robert Kennedy Jr.’s former anti-vaccine group has been arrested and charged with their murders.

Andrea Shaw, 23, formerly of Payette, Idaho, was arrested on Tuesday after a grand jury returned an indictment, charging her with two counts of first-degree murder, which requires premeditation, in connection with the deaths of her 18-month-old twins, Dallas and Tyson. Police found the twins unresponsive in their shared bed on May 1, 2025 after responding to a 911 call.

Shaw blamed the flu, hepatitis A, and DTaP (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis) vaccines the children had received days earlier, but the indictment alleges that she suffocated the toddlers. The arrest concludes “a lengthy and thorough” multi-agency investigation led by the Payette Police Department, according to a press release posted to the department’s Facebook page. That investigation was launched last year as foul play was suspected.

Children’s Health Defense (CHD), the anti-vaccine advocacy group founded and previously led by Kennedy before he became Health and Human Services Secretary, picked up Shaw’s story and promoted it for months. Days after her children’s deaths, Shaw appeared on a CHD podcast, claiming that her husband’s side of the family all suffered allergic reactions to the flu shot that the pediatrician ignored. In the days after the vaccines, she said, her children deteriorated, prompting a hospital visit. On the eighth day, they died.

Shaw later became the lead plaintiff in a racketeering lawsuit filed by the group against the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)—while under investigation for murder.

‘Brazen Crypto Corruption’ Helps Trump Pocket $2.2 Billion During First Year Back in Office

Explains why Trump has been pushing crypto so hard 

Jake Johnson for Common Dreams

Annual financial disclosures released Tuesday reveal that Donald Trump pocketed at least $2.2 billion—more than half of it from his family’s crypto grift—during his first year back in the White House, a windfall that experts say is without precedent in American history.

The disclosure report shows that Trump pulled in $635 million in royalties from Celebration Coins, an entity linked to the president’s meme coin. The president also disclosed around $527 million in proceeds from token sales by World Liberty Financial, the Trump family crypto venture spearheaded by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

“It is completely unprecedented,” Megan Gorman, a tax attorney who has studied the history of presidential wealth, told The New York Times of the president’s windfall.

Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement that “Trump’s obscene income is driven by various cryptocurrency schemes, leveraging his political position to exploit a scam-driven industry that he once said was nothing more than a racket.”

“In doing so, he’s ripping off investors—to the tune of billions—who want to get in on the game with him, or think that buying his crypto products is an innocent means to show their support,” said Weissman. 

“Most troubling, Trump’s personal profit interest has now aligned him with the crypto industry, paving the way for dangerous legislation that will facilitate mass rip-offs and even threaten financial system stability.”

Trump’s massive profits from an industry he’s tasked with regulating represent what the watchdog group Campaign Legal Center (CLC) described as an “unprecedented” conflict of interest, notwithstanding the White House’s laughable claim that “neither the president nor his family has ever engaged—or will ever engage—in conflicts of interest.”

“We have never seen a president have direct conflicts of interest with his financial holdings and the policies he supports, and it’s another example why we need widespread ethics reform now,” Kedric Payne, CLC’s senior director of ethics, told The Wall Street Journal.

The Journal noted that, in addition to crypto profits, “Trump reported $4.7 million in income last year from Trump-branded watches, as well as $1.9 million in royalties from his ‘Save America’ book.”

Trump tells NATO the US is back to a shooting war with Iran, still thinking about taking over Greenland and is launching a new trade war against Spain

Trump won't stop his war against the world until he gets the Nobel Peace Prize

 

This week's Tea with Tina to focus on housing

NEWS FROM THE RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN FOR TINA SPEARS

JULY 2026

Let's Talk Housing at the next Tea with Tina

Our next Tea with Tina will be Saturday, July 11th @ Caf Bar in Charlestown 5153 Old Post Road 10 AM–12 NOON   Join the conversation on housing with Tina Spears and guests Deb Carney and Collin Penney

FRIENDS,   In our community, every voice is welcome. Whether your priority is affordable housing, protecting our rural character and environment, or finding the right balance, your perspective matters.    Housing is one of the most important issues facing our community, with thoughtful perspectives on all sides.   The future of our towns should be shaped by those who live in it. Let's come together, learn more, and build a path forward.   Following our discussion, there'll be a short Q&A to give us an idea of solutions we hope to explore with your input:  What makes our area special, and what should we protect for future generations? What are your biggest concerns about development here? What housing challenges do you believe our neighbors face today or will face in the future? What principles should guide housing decisions moving forward?   We hope you'll join us. Together, we can shape our community's future. If you are unable to come, you can email your thoughts on these questions to tina@tinaspearsri.com

Have you seen our new yard signs? Contact Tina at tina@tinaspearsri.com or call Kathleen 401 439 4469 to get yours!

If you'd like to donate to Tina's re-eelction campaign, please make personal checks payable to: The Friends of Tina Spears 82 Hillside Drive Charlestown, RI 02813   Or click HERE to contribute online or scan the QR code

Want to volunteer on Tina's re-election campaign? Contact us here. We have lots of fun and we'll keep Tina in the State House!

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State law prohibits the acceptance of any corporate or business checks. Only individuals and RI registered PACs may contribute. RI law requires contributors to note place of employment. Contributions are limited to $2,000 per person per calendar year, and are not tax-deductible.

It’s official! I am absolutely NOT running in the Sept. 9 Democratic Primary for House District 36

Please vote for our terrific incumbent Rep. Tina Spears

By Will Collette

As reported earlier, I accidentally checked the wrong box when I filled out my Declaration form to continue as a member of the Democratic District 36 Committee.

For a short but embarrassing period of just under a week, I became an unwilling rival to our great state Rep. Tina Spears and the DINO-LORIB candidate Leah Boisclair in the September 9 Democratic Primary. 

Boisclair is a self-described “sex crimes defense attorney” who is supported by the MAGA-friendly League of Rhode Island Businesses.

This morning, the Charlestown Board of Canvassers accepted my request to amend my form to reflect my original intent to serve on the District 36 Committee and not run for the District 36 seat itself. 

It was a unanimous decision (3-0), and I thank them for their understanding.

The Board of Elections has been officially notified and has taken my name off the Secretary of State’s candidate database.

Tylenol during pregnancy doesn’t increase risk of child’s autism or ADHD

Once again, Trump and Bobby Jr. are proven wrong

Meghan Holohan

There is no association between using acetaminophen (Tylenol) during pregnancy and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, according to a study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine. It adds to the evidence highlighting acetaminophen’s safety during pregnancy.  

“Paracetamol (acetaminophen) remains a safe and essential analgesic [pain reliever] and antipyretic [fever reducer] during pregnancy, whereas alternatives, such as NSAIDs [non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs] and opioids carry well-documented risks,” wrote the University of Hong Kong–led research team. 

“Unwarranted reluctance to use paracetamol could lead to undertreatment of pain and fever, or the use of more harmful alternatives, both posing risks to the pregnancy and developing fetus,” they added. 

Charter school association revokes award they gave Dan McKee

McKee used to be charter school champion, but tough re-election campaign made him abandon his principles

By Diane Ravitch

Rhode Island welcomed charters under former Governor Gina Raimondo. When she left to become President Biden’s Secretary of Commerce, lieutenant governor Dan McKee took her place. 

He was widely viewed as a strong supporter of charter schools. He was closely associated with the creation of Rhode Island’s mayoral academies, especially the Blackstone Valley Prep network. 

But this year, he signed legislation pausing the approval of new charter schools for three years. He said that declining enrollment and funding challenges warranted the pause.

This was awkward for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (sic), which had honored him in 2009 as a Charter School Champion. Taken aback, the Alliance did something unprecedented. It withdrew his award!

Today, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools withdrew its recognition of Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee as a Charter School Champion, marking the first time in the organization’s 21-year history this award has been rescinded.

This happened after McKee signed a bill “that enacts a moratorium on public charter schools for three years, lowers the statewide cap from 35 to 28, and prohibits already approved schools from opening.”

Chemical Accidents Rise, Analysis Shows, as Trump Administration Proposes Weakening Safety Rules

Chemical accidents can happen anywhere, including Charlestown, as past history shows

By Liza Gross

2007 explosion at Bradford Dye

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

Physicist Ronald Koopman appeared at a Southern California Air District meeting in 2018 to talk about what seemed like an arcane scientific topic: hydrofluoric acid dispersion and water mitigation testing. 

Hydrofluoric acid, also known as hydrogen fluoride or HF, is used to manufacture a range of materials, including refrigerants, gasoline, fluorine-based pesticides and fluoropolymers like those used to make Teflon. It’s also one of the most corrosive and dangerous chemicals known. Koopman conducted experiments with the chemical in the 1980s that warned about the potential of deadly accidents at facilities that use the hazardous materials.

2023 fire at former Kenyon Mill on Route 2

With the Trump administration poised to roll back rules intended to protect workers and communities from catastrophic industrial chemical releases, and a new analysis showing rising rates of chemical accidents, Koopman’s presentation on highly hazardous materials has taken on a new urgency. 

The number of accidents involving releases of dangerous chemicals rose by 57 percent between 2021 and 2025, from 83 to 131, according to an analysis released Monday by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a nonprofit that works with former government officials. 

Injuries or deaths from accidents also rose, from 60 to 89 over the same five-year period, the analysis found. Incident reports released by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), an independent agency that investigates chemical accidents, show that more than 650 accidents occurred between April 2020 and May 2026, with 103 resulting in fatalities, 355 causing injuries and 314 doing “substantial property damage.” 

Close to 150 million people live within 3 miles of these facilities. Historically underserved and overburdened populations, including people who identify as Black and Latino, are at greatest risk of exposure to an accidental release.