CCA wants us to remember past shipwrecks

That’s a good first step toward recovery

By Will Collette

I was amused by a post on the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) blog promoting a July 9 program at the Quonnie Grange on the SS Larchmont maritime disaster right off the Quonnie coast in February 1907.

The collision of the Larchmont and the SS Harry Knowlton cost over 150 lives. It’s an interesting history, covered in a 2014 book by Joseph Soares called The Larchmont Disaster off Block Island, Rhode Island’s Titanic which was reviewed HERE. Obviously, that’s not the amusing part.

It’s good for the CCA to take a close look at historical disasters since those mishaps have so much to teach us. Lacking a grasp of history, the Trump administration’s decision to remove navigation buoys off our coast takes us back to 1907 when mariners had to “do their own research.”

I hope the CCA will also examine its own contributions to disasters in Charlestown’s history, such as the events that took place during their decade of control over Charlestown government from 2010 until the 2022 election.

The current Town Council comprised of members who won in 2022 and 2024 under the banner of Charlestown Residents United (CRU) are still working at cleaning up the mess the CCA left behind.

I earnestly believe it is important to review and understand our history. In the interest of preserving the history of Charlestown disasters, here’s a list of some of those CCA-induced disasters. I added a link to each item to illustrate each one:

• 
  Financial mess. Also click HERE to see how the new CRU Town Council started cleaning up this mess and HERE for a summary of the CCA’s financial messes.
• Shady land deals
• Secrecy in government
• Phony emergencies
• Banning residential wind power
• Blocking tax breaks for permanent residents
• Anti-family housing policies

These bullet points provide Charlestown voters with history they should put before themselves every time we have municipal elections. Despite their crushing losses in 2022 and 2024, I have no doubt the CCA will try another comeback once again hoping voters will believe their rhetoric over historical reality.

Even better than his "Big, Beautiful Bill"

A model approach for Charlestown?

Leading dark sky protection organization endorses model for sport field lighting. Are you paying attention, Ruth?

I want to tell you about a special school on Canada’s rugged east coast: Université Sainte-Anne.  As a student there, you must sign a pledge that you’ll only speak French. The school is equally serious about protecting the night as it’s located within a Starlight Reserve.  Please help institutions like this one succeed. The university aimed to build a football pitch to give its whole community a safe place to stay active, even in winter when daylight is scarce. With support from people like you, that athletic field became the first DarkSky Approved Outdoor Sports Lighting project outside the U.S. “Seeing students, staff and community members use this facility at night and knowing that we’re preserving the surrounding dark sky at the same time makes me proud,” says University President Kenneth Deveau. This project can be a model for communities worldwide. Will you keep that momentum going with a gift to DarkSky International today? With gratitude,  Ruskin Hartley CEO & Executive Director P.S. With global light pollution increasing 10% each year, there’s no time to wait.

Trump’s Plan to Push FEMA’s Role to the States Will Be a Fiscal Disaster

Trump wants to end disaster assistance to the states

By Sarah Labowitz, Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, and Debbra Goh , Emissary

When the next Sandy hits Rhode Island, are we going to be on our own? (Judy Gray)

The late spring and early summer are typically a time when the U.S. federal government prepares for hurricane season—the period from June 1 to November 30 that produces the biggest and most costly disasters in the United States. But this year is different.

Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem continue to argue that FEMA, the primary federal disaster response organization, should cease to exist. 

There is no Senate-confirmed FEMA administrator because the White House has not nominated someone who meets the congressionally mandated basic qualifications for the role. 

Acting Administrator David Richardson still has not produced a viable plan for how FEMA will manage the hurricane season. The agency’s most experienced leadership has left or been forced out—most recently Jeremy Greenberg, who coordinated whole-of-government storm response. 

And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) remains understaffed to perform critical weather forecasting functions that allow emergency managers to anticipate extreme weather conditions and position themselves for disaster response.

All of this makes the arrival of hurricane season unusually concerning. But three striking trends threaten to jeopardize a system already under strain: a backlog in federal disaster response requests, an inability of states to fill the federal funding gap, and a shift of accountability to states. Taken together, these factors could suggest major problems not just for the coasts, but for the whole country.

Matunuck Oyster Bar is back!

Matunuck Oyster Bar debuts outside dining starting tomorrow, July 1

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

From their website, how outside dining was before the fire

Matunuck Oyster Bar will welcome diners to slurp oysters and sample seafood in a makeshift, outdoor space across the street from its acclaimed restaurant starting July 1, Perry Raso, restaurant owner, announced Wednesday.

The reopening of the acclaimed South County dining destination on its 16th anniversary comes less than two months after a fire forced the restaurant to close. Ahead of a permanent rebuild, Raso cooked up a temporary solution relying upon the marina parking lot across the street from his restaurant.

The tented dining space required sign-off from state and local officials to ease restrictions governing outdoor eateries. The Rhode Island General Assembly unanimously approved changes to state regulations on June 12, clarifying that pandemic-era allowances for al fresco dining also extend to restaurants closed due to floods, fires or other disasters.

Separately, the South Kingstown Town Council OK’d details including operating hours, parking plans and capacity caps for “Matunuck Marina,” Raso said in an emailed statement.

He thanked state and local officials for helping revive the famed seafood restaurant overlooking Potter Pond, allowing 50 of his 300-person staff to keep working over the summer.

The revival includes tableside dining and grab-and-go options, preserving the existing reservation and takeout system via the restaurant website. 

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Rhode Island Office of the State Fire Marshal. A preliminary investigation suggested it was accidental, and not caused by commercial cooking equipment.

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Rhode Island Current is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Rhode Island Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janine L. Weisman for questions: info@rhodeislandcurrent.com.

Bye-bye, Big Balls

Musk’s DOGE protégé leaves government

by Alex Samuels, Daily Kos Staff

Elon Musk’s hold on the federal government is weakening, and the latest sign comes from one of his most notorious hires. Edward Coristine, the 19-year-old known as “Big Balls” online, has officially left the U.S. government. 

Coristine, a recent high school graduate-turned-technologist, was part of the small group of Musk loyalists recently granted full-time positions at the General Services Administration, which the so-called Department of Government Efficiency used as its main hub.

A White House official confirmed that he resigned June 23, though the reasons remain unclear. By the next day, his government email and Google Workspace accounts were deactivated, and his name was removed from the internal White House DOGE directory.

Coristine’s time at DOGE was short but chaotic. Hired early in Donald Trump’s second term, he quickly became an example of the agency’s dysfunction: young, unqualified, and given broad access to sensitive government systems. He attended high-level meetings across federal agencies, including the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Education.

His persona only made things more absurd. Coristine embraced the nickname “Big Balls,” even adding it to his LinkedIn profile—something Musk reportedly found hilarious.

It CAN happen here in South County

Don't wait until it's too late

South County Resistance

ICE tactics everywhere, especially in LA, are threatening our constitutional liberties.  It's only a matter of time until they show up here in South County to raid our restaurants, businesses, and courts with their thuggery, at the administration’s orders.

During the last Westerly Town Council meeting, Councilor Alex Healy spoke out against the aggressive tactics employed by ICE and questioned the police chief about his intention when ICE shows up. 

He seemed to skirt answering the question, saying they would cooperate with anyone with a warrant.  But we all know that the clandestine agents on a mission to meet Steven Miller's quotas rarely have warrants and often result in the disappearance of people with legal status and no criminal records. 

Since that discourse, Alex and supportive councilors have been targeted by Westerly supporters of the Administration's crackdown on immigration with accusations that Alex and others are advocating for illegal blocking of ICE actions.  

They are advocating for the legal treatment of humans in America who hold the right to due process. They are wondering how the local police department will react to such unprecedented violence from Federal officials.  READ MORE about the legality issue.

The Westerly Town Council needs our help! They need to see that there are people in Westerly who stand by the desire not to see local law enforcement wrapped up in executing the unilateral and patently unconstitutional orders of the presidential administration. 

The next Town Council meeting is July 7, 2025, 6:00 pm – come out to provide public comment or just show up in support of those councilors who are willing to stand up for your rights!

EDITOR’S NOTE: The threat posed by Trump to our fundamental civil liberties cannot be exaggerated. So far, just about anything that could happen has happened or seems likely to happen.

I agree with South County Resistance’s assessment that it’s only a matter of time before repression starts to occur here. You are vulnerable if you have spoken or written against Trump. If you have a Hispanic or Middle Eastern sounding name. If your parents or grandparents were foreign-born. If your skin is the “wrong” color. It doesn’t matter whether you are a citizen or have committed no crimes.

Trump’s jackboots have already scooped up totally innocent people and without due process, shipped them off to third-world gulags – with the blessing of Trump’s Supreme Court appointees.

So the time to prepare is now. Don’t wait until you get that knock on your door, or as happened recently, having your door blown in with explosives.    – Will Collette

"Feed me!"

Who gets what

Five losses from Rhode Island’s 2025 legislative session

RIPTA, climate change, open records reform, school lunch and McKee's agenda lose out

By Nancy Lavin, Christopher Shea and Alexander Castro, Rhode Island Current

More than 2,500 bills and resolutions were introduced across both sides of the State House rotunda this year. But far fewer — about 300 when discounting resolutions extending congratulations and condolences, and granting officiants’ wedding rights — survived the six-month session.

Some were killed outright, while others were left to languish in political purgatory known as legislative committee, or without the necessary budget funding to survive. 

Earlier, we brought you five wins from the legislative session. Now, here are five losses.

1. Gas tax hike not enough to avoid layoffs and service reductions at RIPTA

Cuts are coming soon to the state’s public bus service. That’s even after the General Assembly propped up the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) with nearly $15 million in the fiscal year 2026 budget, including with revenue from a 2-cent increase in the state’s gas tax.

It wasn’t enough to fill what was a $32.6 million shortfall when Gov. Dan McKee released his version of the budget in January. After state lawmakers reduced the deficit to $18 million, RIPTA CEO Christopher Durand said 90 layoffs and a 20% reduction in service may be necessary.

Durand told reporters Thursday afternoon that the deficit was down to $10 million after the agency identified another $8 million in savings from a “favorable price lock” in diesel fuel, along with a positive market performance for the agency’s pension plan.

When cuts would take effect is still to be determined. The agency plans to hold a series of public hearings on potential service changes starting July 28. But RIPTA already has a guide available — an efficiency study of its operations and financial situation mandated in the state’s fiscal 2025 budget. The governor and legislative leaders wanted the agency to finish the study by March 1, but the board of directors was focused on finding a permanent CEO and didn’t commission Canadian engineering consulting firm WSP to conduct the study until March 27.

Scientists Tracked 200,000 Diets for 30 Years – Here’s the Real Key to Heart Health

Diets rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes significantly reduce heart disease risk, while those heavy in processed and animal-based foods do the opposite

By American Society for Nutrition

A new study that followed almost 200,000 people for several decades has found that when it comes to heart health, the quality of food consumed matters as much as following a low-carbohydrate or low-fat diet. The results suggest that choosing healthy, high-quality foods is key to protecting the heart.

In the past two decades, low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets have been promoted for their potential health benefits, such as weight management and improved blood sugar and cholesterol levels. However, the impact of these diets on reducing heart disease risk has remained an ongoing debate.

Connecticut Senator Blumenthal wants probe into Trump cancellation of Veterans Administration contracts

Musk's DOGE kids used artificial intelligence to find and kill contracts deemed "Munchable"

By Eric Umansky and Vernal Coleman for ProPublica

Paul Windle for ProPublica

What Happened

Senators called for a federal investigation into the Trump administration’s killing of hundreds of contracts for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Democrat Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Angus King, a Maine independent, wrote to the agency’s inspector general asking for an investigation into the administration’s cancellation of the contracts and the consequences for veterans.

The senators highlighted “damning reporting from ProPublica” on the cancellations, including how the Department of Government Efficiency used an artificial intelligence tool that marked contracts as “MUNCHABLE.”

The senators wrote that DOGE’s use of AI to scrutinize contracts “adds an entire new level of unease connected to the decision-making, security, governance, and quality control of the entire process.”

VA officials have said they’ve killed nearly 600 contracts after DOGE’s review but have declined requests by lawmakers and ProPublica for details.

“Despite repeated requests in letters to the Secretary, questions at hearings, and dozens of emails to VA officials,” the senators wrote, “the Department has not provided a single briefing or a complete and accurate list of the contracts it has cancelled.”

Blumenthal and King wrote that the VA shared a list of contracts in May, but it was “riddled with errors and inaccuracies.”

Boston federal judge rules that anti-woke is just racism

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a rancid bigot.

Liz Dye

Earlier this week, a federal judge in Boston explicitly called out the Trump administration for its “palpably clear” discrimination against racial minorities and LGBTQ+ Americans in a case involving canceled grants from the National Institutes of Health.

“Have we no shame?” Judge William Young asked, in an unmistakable echo of attorney Joseph Welch, who famously punctured Joe McCarthy’s popularity with his simple plea for decency.

Seventy-five years ago, McCarthy and his sidekick Roy Cohn hunted Communists. Now, Donald Trump, who was mentored by Cohn, hunts a different kind of subversive. In executive orders signed during his first weeks in office, he targeted “Illegal DEI and DEIA policies,” claiming that they violate civil rights laws. He declared that “it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,” and branded “efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex” as discriminatory against women and girls.

This is a radical misstatement of the law. No court in the land has ever held that DEI — whatever that means — constitutes racial discrimination, or that allowing trans people to participate in society amounts to gender discrimination. It also defies the medical and scientific consensus about sex, gender, and biology. But no matter! The president redefined reality by executive fiat, and then instructed his minions to carry out a purge consistent with his edict.

And purge, they did! The administration immediately moved to kick trans service members out of the military, reorient the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to focus on “DEI-related discrimination at work,” and pulled down websites on everything from baseball icon Jackie Robinson to transgender health care.

But while the government was busy deleting pronouns from civil servants’ signature lines, it also slashed thousands of federal grants because some DOGE bro (or possibly an AI) decided that the recipient was vaguely “woke” — whatever that means. At NIH, more than a $1 billion of funding was cut because of its supposed association with “woke” ideologies.

Blanket termination letters informed recipients that their funding was being cut, often in the middle of a multi-year grant, for vague thought crimes:

Research programs based primarily on artificial and non-scientific categories, including amorphous equity objectives, are antithetical to the scientific inquiry, do nothing to expand our knowledge of living systems, provide low returns on investment, and ultimately do not enhance health, lengthen life, or reduce illness. Worse, so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) studies are often used to support unlawful discrimination on the basis of race and other protected characteristics, which harms the health of Americans. Therefore, it is the policy of NIH not to prioritize such research programs.

MAGA bar

Feeding ducks

Cats among five major wins from Rhode Island’s 2025 legislative session

Rhode Island cats celebrate new ban on de-clawing

By Nancy Lavin and Christopher Shea, Rhode Island Current

Photo by Will Collette

The race to the legislative finish line this year was every bit as drama-filled and frenzied as expected. Restrictions on assault weapons got top billing, including on the eight-and-a-half hour marathon that marked the final day of the session, but there was plenty more to crow about and criticize during the jam-packed final weeks.

Here are five wins you might have missed from the 2025 Rhode Island General Assembly. Stay tuned for the losses, coming Friday.

1. Shekarchi zones in on housing

House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi succeeded in his push to boost housing production in Rhode Island for a third consecutive year, with 10 of the 12 bills of his legislative package clearing the Senate in the final days of the session. (All 12 had already secured approval in the lower chamber.)

That includes two bills sponsored by Shekarchi: one to expand electronic permitting and another to amend the state’s building code by centralizing the responsibilities of various officials, commissions, and boards involved in building and fire code permitting.

Other bills passed include measures to allow townhouses wherever duplexes are permitted, require mixed-use zoning in every community, and promote the conversion of vacant or underused commercial buildings into housing.

“Rhode Island’s housing crisis was decades in the making and is taking a sustained effort, over the course of years, to address,” Shekarchi said in a statement Monday.  “I am so appreciative of all of the partners who work with me to address our housing shortage, and this progress is the result of our collaborative efforts.”

Legislation that would have allowed development of vacant state-owned land did not make it across the finish line. Shekarchi described the bill as in need of some “fine-tuning,” pledging to work with the Senate on it again next year.  

Also left hanging by the Senate was legislation that would have eased local restrictions on subdividing large parcels of land, despite having passed in the House on May 15. However, Shekarchi noted that elements of the stalled bill were addressed in one of the successful 10 bills, which sought to eliminate unnecessary red tape and delays in local land subdivision more broadly.

Senate President Valarie Lawson said while there were concerns with the bill, she intends to continue to work with Shekarchi and other lawmakers to encourage further housing development.

2. All rise for AG Neronha

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha’s skilled litigation style persuaded lawmakers to his side on a host of policy changes and added funding for his office for new hires.

Neronha initially sought 13 more staffers for his office, asking for $1.7 million to fund the hires in his fiscal 2026 budget request to Gov. Dan McKee. McKee’s proposed spending plan did not offer any of the money, or additional employees.

Neronha subsequently revised his request, asking lawmakers in the House Committee on Finance for four, rather than 13, hires, funded by settlements his office had won for the states. Lawmakers included an $848,000 allocation of state settlement money for the extra AG staffers in the final fiscal 2026 budget.

Neronha thanked lawmakers for funding the hires in a statement Tuesday.

“The people of my Office show up to work every day with one goal: improve the lives of Rhode Islanders,” Neronha said. “These four additional attorneys will share in that goal, and deliver for the residents of our state.”

Neronha scored wins on several policy changes, too, including a change to state procurement to ban “bid-rigging” by public officials. The Neronha-backed legislation taking aim at McKee’s involvement in “steering” a state education contract to the ILO Group in 2021, passed unanimously in the Senate on the final night of the session, having already secured approval by a strong majority of the House. 

Lawmakers also signed on to versions of some of Neronha’s proposed remedies for the health care crisis, such as using Medicare reimbursement rates as the standard by which to hike corresponding Medicaid payments to primary care providers, and doing away with cumbersome and time-consuming pre-authorization requirements for primary care providers.

Finally, the AG’s office staved off an eleventh hour challenge by House Republicans to his authority over state settlements. GOP lawmakers unsuccessfully attempted during the House budget vote on June 17 to siphon $11 million from the AG’s fiscal 2026 funding as a quid pro quo for what they argued was an unconstitutional overstep of his authority. Neronha had already set in motion a plan to spend the $11 million state settlement from the Route 6/10 contamination lawsuit on pediatric dental care in Providence. 

Speaking to reporters after the June 17 House budget vote, Shekarchi affirmed Neronha’s authority over the state settlement funds.

“If this particular settlement was unfair, the solution is to appeal that,” Shekarchi said. “What we’re doing with the money is helping underprivileged children with health care and dental care is a good thing and I will never be against that.”

3. Republicans at the ready for 2026

RI Republicans outraged at infringement
of this guy's 2nd Amendment rights

The most high-profile victory of the session belongs to those who supported a state ban on assault-style weapons — even if the final legislation did not go as far as some had hoped. 

But state Republicans wasted little time turning “L” on what they say is a matter of Constitutional rights into a potential win for the party and its candidates in the 2026 election cycle.

GOP Chairman Joe Powers initiated the call to action Friday night, declaring it was actively recruiting candidates to challenge the “anti-Constitution, anti-liberty legislators” who voted to limit assault-style weapons in the state.

“We now have a clear, targeted list of every legislator who voted to betray their oath — and their time is running out,” Powers said in a statement. “To every Rhode Islander who still believes in the Constitution — we’re not going to fix this by posting memes or yelling at the TV. We fix it by running for office, knocking doors, and taking back this state seat by seat.”

His call to action has already been met with a flurry of responses — a few dozen potential candidates have reached out to the Republican Party in just the last four days, Powers said Tuesday night.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz of North Smithfield debuted a new “Keeping the Spirit of 1776 Alive” fundraising campaign Tuesday morning, seeking support and donations to retain and boost the Republican’s 14-person presence on Smith Hill.

It’s no secret that state and local Republican party committees have struggled to recruit candidates for state and local office, diminishing their voice in a solidly blue state. Could the contested ban on assault weapons sales change the tides in their favor?

Many Older People Embrace Vaccines. Research Is Proving Them Right.

Seniors know vaccines work, having lived through times when vaccines were rare

Paula Span 

Kim Beckham, an insurance agent in Victoria, Texas, had seen friends suffer so badly from shingles that she wanted to receive the first approved shingles vaccine as soon as it became available, even if she had to pay for it out-of-pocket.

Her doctor and several pharmacies turned her down because she was below the recommended age at the time, which was 60. So, in 2016, she celebrated her 60th birthday at her local CVS.

“I was there when they opened,” Beckham recalled. After getting her Zostavax shot, she said, “I felt really relieved.” She has since received the newer, more effective shingles vaccine, as well as a pneumonia shot, an RSV vaccine to guard against respiratory syncytial virus, annual flu shots and all recommended covid-19 vaccinations.

Some older people are really eager to be vaccinated.

Robin Wolaner, 71, a retired publisher in Sausalito, California, has been known to badger friends who delay getting recommended shots, sending them relevant medical studies. “I’m sort of hectoring,” she acknowledged.

Deana Hendrickson, 66, who provides daily care for three young grandsons in Los Angeles, sought an additional MMR shot, though she was vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella as a child, in case her immunity to measles had waned.

For older adults who express more confidence in vaccine safety than younger groups, the past few months have brought welcome research. Studies have found important benefits from a newer vaccine and enhanced versions of older ones, and one vaccine may confer a major bonus that nobody foresaw.

The new studies are coming at a fraught political moment. The nation’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has long disparaged certain vaccines, calling them unsafe and saying that the government officials who regulate them are compromised and corrupt.

On June 9, Kennedy fired a panel of scientific advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and later replaced them with some who have been skeptical of vaccines. But so far, Kennedy has not tried to curb access to the shots for older Americans.

The evidence that vaccines are beneficial remains overwhelming.

Senators Whitehouse and Murkowski Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation to Ban Commercial Octopus Farming

America is plunging into fascism and the world is going to hell, but let's make time for octopi

U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), founders and co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Oceans Caucus, reintroduced the Opposing the Cultivation and Trade of Octopus Produced through Unethical Strategies (OCTOPUS) Act for World Ocean Day on June 8^th.  The bipartisan legislation would preemptively ban commercial octopus farming in the U.S. and prohibit imports of commercially farmed octopus from foreign countries. 

In August, 100 scientists published an article in the prestigious journal, Science, endorsing the senators’ bipartisan legislation and urging Congress to quickly pass the bill.

“Octopus are smart, sentient creatures that have no business cooped up on commercial farms,” said Whitehouse.  “I’m glad to reintroduce this bill with Senator Murkowski to ban this practice and keep octopus wild in our oceans.  Congress should heed the call of over 100 leading ocean scientists from around the world and quickly pass our bill.”

Trump’s Cuts to Job Corps Will Hurt All of Us

GOP expects people to work while closing doors to opportunity

By Paul Epstein

EDITOR'S NOTE: Trump's attack on the Job Corps has had the Exeter Job Corps Academy on the brink of extinction. The ProJo reported on Senator Jack Reed's effort to keep the center open as well as his comprehensive rebuttal to the Trump regime false claims that Job Corps training programs are no longer needed. - Will Collette

On a bitterly cold morning this January, Brendan and Amare hopped into my Ford Explorer and we drove 30 miles to Grafton, Massachusetts.

Our destination: the Grafton Job Corps campus, one of 125 similar sites in all 50 states. These campuses provide housing, education, and vocational training to tens of thousands of young people aged 16-24 in need of support, guidance, and direction in their lives.

The program grew out of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty and Great Society initiatives over 60 years ago — back when our federal government sought innovative solutions to problems plaguing our country.

Unconditional love

8,647

Back to war with Canada and "thank you for your attention to this matter"

'We Have Lost a Giant': Broadcast Legend Bill Moyers Dies at 91

"Moyers believed that journalism should serve democracy, not just the bottom line."

Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams

The life and work of journalist Bill Moyers was being celebrated across the world of independent and public media on Thursday as news of his death at the age of 91 spread across the United States and beyond.

"RIP Bill Moyers, one of the greatest of the greats," Press Watch's Dan Froomkin said on social media as remembrances and celebrations of the legendary broadcaster, democracy defender, and longtime Common Dreams contributor poured in.

Moyers died of complications from prostate cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

He began his long media career as a teenager, reporting for his local newspaper in Texas. He was also an ordained Baptist minister and former President Lyndon B. Johnson's press secretary.

A joint statement from the LBJ Presidential Library, his foundation, and the Johnson family noted that "Moyers played a central role in developing and promoting Johnson's Great Society agenda, an ambitious domestic policy program to eliminate poverty, expand civil rights, and improve education and healthcare nationwide."

Moyers left the White House and returned to journalism in 1967. He served as publisher of Newsday, then launched his award-winning television career, from which he retired in 2015. His website, BillMoyers.com, went into "archive mode" in 2017.

With his television programming—much of which aired on PBS—Moyers took "his cameras and microphones to cities and towns where unions, community organizations, environmental groups, tenants rights activists, and others were waging grassroots campaigns for change," Peter Dreier wrote for Common Dreams a decade ago.

State says Worden Pond algae bloom has cleared and is now safe

RIDOH and DEM  Recommend Avoiding Contact with Wilson Reservoir

Stay away from water that looks like this

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) have lifted the advisory recommendation for recreational activities at Worden Pond in South Kingstown. 

The harmful algae bloom (HAB) caused by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) has cleared. 

Recent testing shows algae levels are low and no toxins were detected, meeting safety guidelines.

RIDOH and DEM are also advising people to avoid contact with Wilson Reservoir in Burrillville due to harmful algae blooms (HABs). HABs are caused by blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, which are naturally present in bodies of water. 

HABs can produce toxins which can be harmful to humans and animals. Toxins and/or high cell counts have been detected by the RIDOH State Health Laboratory from water samples collected by DEM at this location. 

Guns kill more U.S. children than other causes, but state policies can help, study finds

Data shows gun laws have already save Rhode Island kids' lives

By Nada Hassanein, Rhode Island Current

More American children and teens die from firearms than any other cause, but there are more deaths — and wider racial disparities — in states with more permissive gun policies, according to a new study.

The study, published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics last week, analyzes trends in state firearm policies and kids’ deaths since 2010, after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in McDonald v. City of Chicago. The ruling struck down the city’s handgun ban, clearing the way for many states to make it easier for people to buy and carry guns.

The study authors split states into three groups: “most permissive,” “permissive” and “strict,” based on the stringency of their firearm policies. Those policies include safe storage laws, background checks and so-called Stand Your Ground laws. The researchers analyzed homicide and suicide rates and the children’s race.

Using statistical methods, the researchers calculated 6,029 excess deaths in the most permissive states between 2011 and 2023, compared with the number of deaths that would have been expected under the states’ pre-McDonald rules. There were 1,424 excess deaths in the states in the middle category.

Trump’s disturbing flagpole event

Trump shows more cognitive decline while installing the flagpole

By his own words, Trump shows his unfitness

By Bill Addis for Daily Kos

He talked a lot. He probably shouldn't have. He makes mistakes of memory and coherence every time he speaks without a script. This time was no different.

Trump: So the White House opened about 1800, a little bit before that, just a tad. And I've always said, why doesn't it have a flagpole from the grass? They have a little one on top, very little one.

It's not that little. It's 36 ft tall.

Trump: ... we also have one that's going on what's called the front, or the north. We have one going there, identical. So we'll have one this side of the building and will have one on that side of the building, properly placed.

Nobody told him that he just created a flying hazard for Marine One. It may be able to find a place to land, but it won't be easy, and if there's wind, forget about it.

Trump: We thought we'd put it near --- I mean, it always looks the best when it's near a Doral. I put it right near --- I have a similar poll and these are the best poles anywhere in the country, or in the world actually.

Doral is his golf resort in Miami. He's forgotten that he's in Washington at the White House.

Trump: We'll be putting it up at 11:00 here and a couple of minutes later, on the other side. We'll start here at 11:00. So that'll be very nice and very patriotic. We're doing very well as a country, If the Fed would ever lower rates, would buy debt for a lot less. It's a shame, this guy --- I have a guy --- do you ever have a guy that's not a smart person and you're dealing with him and he's not a smart guy.

He's talking about the flagpole, and there is no transition at all into talking about interest rates. We have no idea what guy he's talking about. He's the one who has the guy but he's not a smart person. Would have been nice if he mentioned who it was about. Maybe Jerome Powell, but who the hell knows?

Trump: I got a call Congress last night, sir, there's a problem. I said, what is it? Money is pouring in. We don't know how to account for it. I said, check the tariffs, $88 billion came in from tariffs, no inflation.

He has this fixation about thinking that $88 billion dollars is going to make up for the trillions he's cost since he started messing with the economy. No brain. Not smart. I have to stop here because he goes on for way too long. Then he talks about the workers raising the flagpole.

Trump: But remember this, somewhere in this group, there's somebody that's going to captivate a movie producer, not Harvey Weinstein. Harvey's seen a better day. So it won't be Harvey, but it'll be somebody.

Trump has a brain fart. The only movie producer he could think of is Harvey Weinstein. What does that tell you about Trump?

Trump: Anyway, let's have a good --- they call it a lifting. They also use another word, but I'm not going to use that word. You know what it is, the word? It starts with an E. You know what the word is? If I ever used it, I'd be run out of town by you people. So enjoy it. Doug, you're going to get some good --- he's going to win another Nobel Prize, I think, for this picture.

Starts with an E. He's thinking of "erection" instead of "erecting." But his brain can't process the difference. And you don't get a Nobel Prize for a picture. He must be thinking of a Pulitzer Prize. But he doesn't want to say that because he's still got that stupid lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize board over the New York Times and The Washington Post getting them for reporting correctly about him on the Russia, Russia, Russia story.

Reporter: [Do] you believe the US is moving closer to striking Iranian nuclear facilities? Where is your mindset on that?

Trump: Well, obviously I can't say that, right? You don't seriously think I'm going to answer that question? Will you strike the Iranian nuclear component? And what time exactly, sir? Sir, would you strike it? Will you please inform us so we can be there and watch?

Then he rambles on forever about how he had given Iran time to make an agreement and they didn't during his 60 days and the 61st of course Israel attacked. Then when he is asked if it's too late, the subject turns to "Too Late Powell" instead of Iran.

Reporter: A question on deportations, Mr. President. You said last week that changes would be coming for farmers who have seen a lot of their workers they rely on taken away. But then DHS said this week that worksite enforcement would remain in place.

Trump: Well, everybody's right. Look, we got to get the bad people hold of here first and we're doing that. We're taking them out by the thousands, murderous, drug dealers, people that are mentally insane, from insane asylums.

Everybody's right?  That's not possible when there's completely opposing statements.

Trump: They'll be checking you. Your whole life will be destroyed because of this press conference, watch. They'll destroy these people. I didn't want to tell them that before they start, but they'll end up being, oh, he's a so-and-so. This one is from, you know where, no, I think you're going to be okay and I'll be right behind you.

He was apparently talking about the workers who were installing the flagpole. Even if that is correct, still doesn't make much sense.

Then he rolls into his standard speech about how 11,888 murderers were in the United States and they murdered more than one person. 50% of them killed more than one person. From the Congo. From Venezuela.

Reporter: Can you comment on the impact of a Trump card, how much revenue [inaudible].

Trump: Yeah, we have a thing called the Trump card. This has not been done before or thought of and for 5 million dollars, this is usually people that would either be working for companies like Apple, I think is going to buy a lot of them, because they can't get people into the country. If you come in through the southern border, you have no problem.

Sure, Apple is going to pay $5 million for every new employee. At that point, they couldn't afford to pay the worker anything at all for a decade. But if you come in through the southern border, you don't have to pay the $5 million. So, what he is saying is that people should ignore the $5 million card and come in like the murderers, drug dealers and rapists.

Trump: They'll be paid for by universities. Look at Harvard, they've got $53 billion. That whole thing is coming to an end. It's amazing what we found out. What a disgrace... Harvard wants to make a deal more than Iran wants to make a deal, and Iran wants to make a deal.

Trump thinks that Harvard now is going to pay $5 million so a student can come to the university. The deal man. If it walks like a deal, and talks like a deal, don't let that fool you, it really is a deal.

Trump: What he's done to this country --- it's not him. He had no idea what was going on. Everybody knows that. It's other people. It's Lisa and this one and that --- all these people, all the scum that was around the Oval Office or around the beautiful Resolute desk telling this guy, here, do this, do that and not even telling. They just go over to the autopen and sign whatever the hell they wanted to sign. To say what you want about Biden, he wasn't for open borders.

Talking about Biden, but not knowing about it until the end. And then to prove that the autopen was actually running the show, he says that Biden was not for open borders, when for the last 4 years he's been saying Biden was for open borders

Trump: He wasn't for transgender for everybody. He wasn't for men playing in women's sports, but he has no idea what the hell --- he has no idea and they were very upset. They wanted Bernie Sanders. And after about a week of this guy, they say wait a minute, we hit gold. This guy has no clue. He'll do anything we tell him. And then they realize that they don't even have to get permission. They just go up to the autopen. That's a subversion. That's a takeover of out government and you people ought to take a look at it.

Transgender for everybody. Not one reporter has asked what that means. Then, no transition to Joe Biden and the autopen without ever saying his name. They had a Chuck Grassley run Senate hearing about Joe's fitness in office that was ridiculous. Democrats almost all boycotted it. Then, without skipping a beat:

Trump: Not only did they cheat. I guess you saw yesterday came out with China and the license plates, tens of thousands of cards. They used those cards to vote in my second election, my second, in 2020.

He rambles off once more into how he won the 2020 election. License plates? One of his staff put up a post on his Truth Social about some uncorroborated nonsense Patel dug up and gave to Grassley that the Chinese brought in 20,000 fake drivers licenses to allow people to vote. Never happened. Finally back to the flagpole.

Reporter: Any adjustments that need to be made to Marine One departures and arrival?

Trump: No, no, we put it so Marine One is very far away. We did it in conjunction with the Air Force, with everybody and everybody signed off on it. No, we have to have it very far away. It's very far from --- Marine One's out there. It's out on the field, so you have a certain distance. We're about three times that distance.

Looking at the position of the pole yesterday and a shot of Marine One flying out to land on the South Lawn, Marine One's helicopter blades would easily hit the pole. I expect problems on the first flight in. I'd really like to hear what the Air Force really said. Maybe the Marines, too. But he makes it seem that there's adequate space by calling it a field instead of a lawn. Still making mistakes in every sentence. Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney also sees a problem with the flagpole.

Much later, after going on and on about the sand the flagpole is in, he talks about the high speed rail in California, then about the wildfires and how they need to sweep the floor. Then to how he saved Los Angeles by sending in the National Guard.

Then it back to his routine about breaking up the concrete, the totally imaginary bricks being thrown. Chunks of concrete, yes. No bricks.

A reporter asks Trump about the Paramount and Skydance acquisition and he instead answers with the 60 Minutes and Kamala Harris interview. Basically saying to FCC Chair Bendan Carr to block the deal unless he gets his extortion from Paramount-CBS.

Reporter: What are you telling Senators, because the New York Republicans on the House side are making clear that's a red line for them as well. [On the SALT (State And Local Taxes) deduction in the Big Ugly Bill].

Trump: Well, if it were a redline, then, uh, get ready for a 68% tax increase and 1929, because we're taking care with that issue too. You know what that is, that's debt ceiling. We have to move the debt. If we don't move the debt, you violate governance. It's a terrible thing. Actually, Pocahontas agreed with me on that. She's been wanting to get rid of the debt ceiling because she's said it's too violent. It is, it's violent.

Trump keeps saying that if his 2017 tax breaks aren't kept in place, everybody's tax goes up 68%. Ridiculous. Move the debt. He means raising the debt ceiling. Both he and Sen. Warren want to just get rid of the debt ceiling because it causes problems no matter who is in power. But calling her Pocahontas is really racist. Once she mentioned she had some Native American blood and Trump can't forget it. But what about the debt ceiling is violent? What word was he looking for there and failed?

His hatred of California continues with beating their law that by 2035, they would no longer allow gas cars to be sold. He mis-states 2030. Then it's gas prices and eggs.

Reporter: Mr. President. Some of his supporters are split on the US response to -—

Trump: Who are you?

Reporter: CNN.

Trump: Fake news. Fortunately nobody watches.

Reporter: But my question is -—

Trump: Is anybody watching CNN these days? I haven't seen it in a long time.

Reporter: But some of your supporters are wary of the US getting involved in another ---

Trump: Oh, I haven't seen that, no, no. Do you ever ask a positive question at CNN?

He never answers the question. He just goes off into ya-ya land talking about how he won the election and how he took the seven swing states, and how he won in a landslide by millions and millions.

The reporter than follows up and asks again about his supporters not wanting a war that will last long. He responds by saying he's got a great approval numbers before finally saying:

Trump: All I'm saying is you can't have a nuclear weapon and I tried to do it nicely. And then on day 61, I said let's go because we can't let that happen and I've been saying it for 20 years.

Trump just said he gave Israel the go ahead to attack on day 61.

Trump: OK. I'm going to leave. Thank you very much.

Later, he came back out for the raising of the flag and talked for just over one minute.

Trump: We picked the right location. [inaudible] Picking the right location [inaudible]

No, he didn't. It would have been so easy to put them flanking the White House.

Reporter: What intelligence do you have --- do you have any intelligence that Iran is targeting -—

Trump: A lot of intelligence  [inaudible] Have you?

Reporter: [laughs]  --- that Iran is targeting any assets?

Trump: we're doing very well. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Press, Karoline.

Karoline: Thank you press. Thank you.

Trump went back into the White House.

This was still another unscripted disaster with Trump not answering questions and speaking at length about old stuff he's said many times before. He trots out the claims of the past to fill the time until the next old gripe shows up.

This is the guy with control of nuclear weapons, ready to start a bigger war in the Middle East than Israel has made it. Khamenei laughed at his unconditional surrender demand. Congress is telling him straight out that he has to come to them first to join Israel. But with his "mandate" and his feeling of invincibility, and his complete disregard of the Constitution, he thinks it doesn't apply to him.

What the military will do now is in question if Trump gives the command and Congress hasn't approved. The National Guard and Marines went to Los Angeles under illegal orders. Will commanders and soldiers finally say no? Their oath is to the Constitution, not the commander in Chief. Will they know the difference?

Trump's brain is fried. He looks physically unwell, fat, hunched over, puffy eyes and now starting to fall on stairs getting into Air Force One. He's making bad decisions, just shown with the flagpoles placements.

And that's on a good day.