Trump set up a private bank account in Qatar for the billions we are taking in Venezuelan oil out of the reach of oversight

But he's wrong to think he's in control of Venezuela

Maybe all he wanted was the oil money

by Alix Breeden, Daily Kos Staff

According to Donald Trump, the U.S. and Venezuela are on extremely good terms a month after arresting Nicolás Maduro and transporting the president and his wife, Cilia Flores, to a prison in New York City. 

“Relations between Venezuela and the United States have been, to put it mildly, extraordinary!” Trump wrote via Truth Social Thursday. “We are dealing very well with President Delcy Rodriguez, and her Representatives. Oil is starting to flow, and large amounts of money, unseen for many years, will soon be greatly helping the people of Venezuela.”

However, according to an interview with NBC News released the same day, Rodriguez—who succeeded to power following Maduro’s capture—disagrees with the U.S. perspective. 

“I can tell you President Nicolás Maduro is the legitimate president. I will tell you this as a lawyer, that I am. Both President Maduro and Cilia Flores, the first lady, are both innocent,” the acting president said to “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker in Caracas. 

Rodriguez also told the outlet that the Trump administration has extended an invitation to meet at the White House that she is still considering. 

But the change in temperatures from Trump’s and Rodriguez’s responses highlights the larger, more unstable narrative at play.

The South American country is but one domino piece targeted in the president’s “Donroe Doctrine,” the Trumpified Monroe Doctrine. Venezuela’s oil and its long-term standoff with Maduro made it a prime target under the Trump administration to enforce U.S. dominance over the Western Hemisphere. 

Crime guide

Bobby Jr. posts bizarre video of himself and Kid Rock exercising and drinking mail

See the video here: Secretary Kennedy on X: "I’ve teamed up with @KidRock to deliver two simple messages to the American people: GET ACTIVE + EAT REAL FOOD. https://t.co/PkK8IfkPU4" / X

A loud minority makes the Internet look far more toxic than it is

Not everyone on the internet is a jerk, though many are

PNAS Nexus 

A vocal minority online creates the illusion that toxicity is everywhere. When people learn the truth, their outlook on society becomes more positive almost immediately. Credit: Shutterstock

Americans tend to believe that online spaces are far more hostile than they actually are. Many assume that nearly half of people on major platforms regularly post cruel, aggressive, or abusive comments. In reality, truly severe online toxicity is much rarer. 

One striking example is Reddit, where Americans estimate that 43% of users post highly toxic comments, even though research shows the real figure is closer to just 3%. This gap between perception and reality can quietly fuel a broader sense of pessimism about other people and about society as a whole.

To better understand this disconnect, researchers Angela Y. Lee, Eric Neumann, and their colleagues surveyed 1,090 American adults using the online research platform CloudResearch Connect. The goal was to compare what people believe about harmful online behavior with actual data collected in previous large-scale studies of social media platforms.

The results showed that people dramatically overestimate how common toxic behavior is. On Reddit, participants believed toxic commenters were 13 times more common than they truly are. A similar pattern appeared on Facebook. Participants guessed that 47% of users share false or misleading news stories, even though existing research suggests the real number is about 8.5%. In other words, people assume that misinformation and harmful content dominate social media feeds far more than they actually do.

Closing in on a universal vaccine

Nasal spray protects mice from respiratory viruses, bacteria and allergens

By Stanford University Medical Center

Edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan

Bobby Jr. has a different idea about what to put up your nose

In the realm of medical advancements, a universal vaccine that can protect against any pathogen has long been a Holy Grail—and about as elusive as a mythological vessel. But Stanford Medicine researchers and collaborators have taken an astonishing step forward in that quest, surprising even themselves.

In a new study in mice, they have developed a universal vaccine formula that protects against a wide range of respiratory viruses, bacteria and even allergens. The vaccine is delivered intranasally—such as through a nasal spray—and provides broad protection in the lungs for several months.

In the study, published in Science, researchers show that vaccinated mice were protected against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses, Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii (common hospital-acquired infections), and house dust mites (a common allergen).

In fact, the new vaccine has worked for a remarkably wide spectrum of respiratory threats the researchers have tested, said Bali Pulendran, Ph.D., the Violetta L. Horton Professor II and a professor of microbiology and immunology who is the study's senior author. The lead author of the study is Haibo Zhang, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar in Pulendran's lab.

If translated into humans, such a vaccine could replace multiple jabs every year for seasonal respiratory infections and be on hand should a new pandemic virus emerge.

Charlestown is about to get whacked by Mother Nature

69% odds of getting 8 inches or more of snow and mess

And it could be worse

By Will Collette

Last Wednesday, it looked like Charlestown would have yet another messy weekend, but no Snowmaggedon. Since then, the storm track changed and the bad weather seems to be developing into the dreaded "Bomb Cyclone (bombogenesis)" traditionally know to us as a very nasty Nor'easter. 

NOAA's experimental website shows the snow range for us at 7-17 inches.

The National Weather Service forecast for Charlestown shows a slightly higher snowfall range of between 10 inches and 18. First flakes are slated to fall tomorrow afternoon with the bomb hitting tomorrow night and all through Monday. Wind gusts could hit 55 mph.

Temperatures are forecast to be at or above freezing during parts of the storm. That could lead to wetter, heavier snow than we had during the last storm a couple of weeks ago. Wet, heavy snow tends to lead to more power outages and to smashed mailboxes.

We're New Englanders so we know how to handle this, right? As long as we've got enough Wonder Bread and milk, we're OK. Fingers crossed.

Magaziner visits ICE detainees at the Wyatt.

Will his fellow congressmen follow suit?

by Philip Eil, Rhode Island Current

U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner paid an unannounced visit to Rhode Island’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility this week. On Tuesday afternoon, he issued a statement after inspecting the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility, in Central Falls, which holds detainees for the U.S. Marshals Service as well as ICE. It reads, in part:

“As with other inspections I have conducted of ICE and Border Patrol detention facilities, my focus was on assessing the condition of the facility and the ability of detainees to have basic needs met including access to legal counsel, due process, medical services, and nutrition.”

The statement is conspicuously light on details. It makes no mention of what Magaziner saw while inside the facility, or whether the basic needs of the ICE detainees held there are, in fact, being met. (As of the last publicly-disclosed head count in November, there were 110 ICE detainees there, and the population remained over 100 throughout 2025.)

Still, the visit made Magaziner a leader among Rhode Island’s congressional delegation. Members of Congress have statutory authority to make unannounced inspections at ICE facilities. But, though ICE has dominated headlines during Trump’s second term for all manner of scandals and abuses, and although the Wyatt has remained in steady use by the agency, Magaziner appears to be the first among our state’s four delegates to inspect the facility during Trump’s second term.

So I reached out to the other three to see what their plans were. Here’s what the responses were:

A spokesperson for U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo said he plans to visit “soon,” though she did not specify when. 

A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Jack Reed said Reed “has visited Wyatt and other similar facilities in other states before and plans to visit Wyatt again.” He did not specify when Reed had last visited Wyatt.   

A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said Whitehouse “has visited Wyatt in the past and will likely do so again.” She confirmed that he had not visited during Trump’s second term.

RFK Jr. Made Promises in Order to Become Health Secretary. He’s Broken Many of Them.

Biggest lies were about vaccines and research

Amanda Seitz and Hannah Norman, KFF Health News 

Video by Hannah Norman

One year after taking charge of the nation’s health department, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hasn’t held true to many of the promises he made while appealing to U.S. senators concerned about the longtime anti-vaccine activist’s plans for the nation’s care.

Kennedy squeaked through a narrow Senate vote to be confirmed as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, only after making a number of public and private guarantees about how he would handle vaccine funding and recommendations as secretary.

Here’s a look at some of the promises Kennedy made during his confirmation process.

The Childhood Vaccine Schedule

In two hearings in January 2025, Kennedy repeatedly assured senators that he supported childhood vaccines, noting that all his children were vaccinated.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) grilled Kennedy about the money he’s made in the private sector from lawsuits against vaccine makers and accused him of planning to profit from potential future policies making it easier to sue.

“Kennedy can kill off access to vaccines and make millions of dollars while he does it,” Warren said during the Senate Finance Committee hearing. “Kids might die, but Robert Kennedy can keep cashing in.”

Warren’s statement prompted an assurance by Kennedy.

“Senator, I support vaccines,” he said. “I support the childhood schedule. I will do that.”

Days later, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, declared Kennedy had pledged to maintain existing vaccine recommendations if confirmed. Cassidy, a physician specializing in liver diseases and a vocal supporter of vaccination, had questioned Kennedy sharply in a hearing about his views on shots.

“If confirmed, he will maintain the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ recommendations without changes,” Cassidy said during a speech on the Senate floor explaining his vote for Kennedy.

A few months after he was confirmed, Kennedy fired all the incumbent members of the vaccine advisory panel, known as ACIP, and appointed new members, including several who, like him, oppose some vaccines. The panel’s recommendations soon changed drastically.

Trump's executive order "Restoring Gold Standard Science" was the worst kind of poison: It looks, smells, and tastes exactly like a healthy meal.

How MAHA Exploits the Flaws of Modern Science

By C. Brandon Ogbunu

An old adage tells us that pressure can burst a pipe, but pressure can also make a diamond. It’s a soothing creed for life’s tumult. It applied most directly to me during my past life as a sometimes-boxer by suggesting that the fighter with less talent (me in my youth) can win by smothering their opponent, throwing punches in high volume, and making their foe uncomfortable. Pressure, this pugilistic advice goes, is the best way to expose the fragilities of adversaries.

The analogy applies to the current war on science, now a year old. My academic colleagues and I feel overwhelmed by the never-ending subversion from the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement. We are collectively flummoxed, without a plan of action, and vulnerable to every body blow from an emboldened challenger. The worst consequences of the war on science are not the direct ones, like the funding cuts and the attacks on DEI and free speech. Rather, the most harm comes from the stress imposed by President Donald Trump's health and science leadership, who have nevertheless revealed enormous flaws in the process of science — ones that we could have fixed many moons ago and must fix today if we want science to survive.

In reflecting on the war on science, we should note that there is no silver lining. We shouldn’t accept the notion that the goals of science’s opponents are anything but to maim our scientific machine. Any appeal to the movement’s desire for improved well-being is delusional at best, and is more likely nonsense. We shouldn’t force ourselves to extract meaning from an ordeal. However crude it may sound, “This sucks” is an appropriate response.

But in the midst of our rage, we must confront some major flaws in modern science that have been weaponized against us. And they come to light through the answer to a disquieting question: Why does the public seem largely indifferent to the attacks on science?

Congratulations to new medalists

 

It's just common sense

On February 24, watch this, not the other thing

URI team uses new tools to forecast flooding from coastal storms

Hurricane Katrina still offers lessons 20 years after it destroyed New Orleans

Kristen Curry

URI offers tools to meet Rhode Island’s resilience and emergency management needs: CHAMP predicted flooding on Wellington Ave. in Newport during a 2022 nor’easter.

In a new paper in the Journal of Coastal and Riverine Flood Risk, a team from the University of Rhode Island discusses the novel application of Homeland Security exercises to evaluate emergency managers’ use of their simulation support tools to improve response to major coastal storms such as Hurricane Katrina.

They ran their models based on Hurricane Henri, which hit the northeastern U.S. in 2021, but the paper was inspired by a 20-year lookback at Katrina and the damage it wrought on New Orleans. User feedback and observation data were used to inform real-world activation protocols and guide ongoing development of CHAMP (Coastal Hazards Analysis, Modeling, and Prediction).

For one of the paper’s lead authors, Samuel Adams, a marine affairs Ph.D. candidate in URI’s Marine Affairs Coastal Resilience Lab — and also URI’s Emergency Management Director — considering the impact of Katrina is not only an academic exercise, it’s personal.

A native of New Orleans, Adams came to Rhode Island for college, but says, “NOLA will always be home.” His parents’ home was so damaged, he was there for a week after the storm dealing with their house while the city was evacuated. Adams was working as a firefighter and EMT at the time in Bristol, R.I.

“That experience was the primary catalyst that led to my career in emergency management, and ultimately inspired me to pursue my Ph.D. in this area,” Adams comments. “I looked around me and knew there had to be a better way.”

Yeah, snow's still on the ground but it's not too early to think about summer jobs

Work with DEM this Summer!

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is recruiting for critical summertime positions like lifeguards, park rangers, and other key staff to work at state beaches, parks, and campgrounds. 

If you like being outdoors and want to make a positive impact on your community and our environment, DEM has hundreds of seasonal employment opportunities across its divisions. 

Visit DEM's seasonal employment webpage and apply for a position that interests you!

"DEM relies on hiring a robust seasonal workforce each year to manage parks, beaches, and other facilities," said DEM Director Terry Gray. "Working outside at some of the state's best destinations, gaining professional development experience, and having the opportunity to work with people from around the world are just a few of the many perks of joining our team.”

Full-time lifeguard positions are available at all state swimming areas, including surf beaches such as Roger Wheeler and Misquamicut, non-surf beaches such as Goddard Memorial State Park, and freshwater beaches such as Burlingame Campground and Lincoln Woods State Park. Lifeguard pay ranges from $19.75 to $21.00 an hour based on experience and position level. Lifeguards hired by May 22, 2026, can receive a one-time, $500 sign-on bonus as well as a $500 retention bonus if specific requirements are met.

Trump regime continues its war on mRNA vaccines even though millions of lives were saved during the pandemic

FDA reverses course, refuses to review Moderna’s application for new mRNA flu vaccine

Laine Bergeson

The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA’s) Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) is refusing to review Moderna’s application for approval of a new flu vaccine. The decision comes after the FDA previously indicated support for the company’s phase 3 trial of its mRNA flu vaccine.  

Moderna’s study included more than 40,000 adults age 50 and up and was intended to help the company get approval to use the vaccine in that age-group. In a press release, Moderna said the FDA determined that the company’s study was not “adequate and well-controlled” because the comparable vaccine used in the trial did not represent the “best-available standard of care” in the United States at the time of the study. 

Neither federal rules for how drug studies must be designed, nor the FDA’s own guidance for flu vaccines, refer to the use of "best-available standard of care” in selecting comparator vaccines. Previous correspondence from the FDA to Moderna expressed a preference for the company to use a higher-dose vaccine for older adults as a comparator but stated, “We agree it would be acceptable to use a licensed standard dose influenza vaccine as the comparator in your Phase 3 study.”

The study followed a well-established framework for flu vaccine trials, according to virologist Angela Rasmussen, PhD, of the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. “The trial design they used is essentially the trial design that every single flu vaccine has used,” she tells CIDRAP news. 

Refusal could undermine confidence in FDA

In an interview with The New York Times, Moderna’s president Stephen Hoge, MD, expressed surprise and confusion about the decision, noting the FDA’s earlier support for the company’s study plan. The company’s mRNA vaccine has been accepted for review in the European Union, Canada, and Australia. Moderna has requested a meeting with the FDA to understand the basis for their refusal.

Will a ‘Trump slump’ continue to hit US tourism in 2026 − and even keep World Cup fans away?

Trump regime seems to be doing everything possible to discourage foreign visitors

Frédéric Dimanche, Toronto Metropolitan University and Kelley A. McClinchey, Wilfrid Laurier University

With an upcoming FIFA World Cup being staged across the nation, 2026 was supposed to be a bumper year for tourism to the United States, driven in part by hordes of arriving soccer fans.

And yet, the U.S. tourism industry is worried. While the rest of the world saw a travel bump in 2025, with global international arrivals up 4%, the U.S. saw a downturn. The number of foreign tourists who came to the United States fell by 5.4% during the year – a sharper decline than the one experienced in 2017-18, the last time, outside the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, that the industry was gripped by fears of a travel slump.

Policy stances from the Trump administration on everything from immigration to tariffs, along with currency swings and stricter border controls, have seemingly proved a turnoff to travelers from other countries, especially Canadians – the single largest source of foreign tourists for the United States. Canadian travel to the U.S. fell by close to 30% in 2025. But it is not just visitors from Canada who are choosing to avoid the United States. Travel from Australia, India and Western Europe, among others, has also shrunk.

We are experts in tourism. And while we don’t possess a crystal ball, we believe that the tourism decline of 2025 could well continue through 2026. The evidence appears clear: Washington’s ongoing policies are putting off would-be travelers. In other words, the tourism industry is in the midst of a “Trump slump.”

Fewer Canadians heading south

The impact of Donald Trump’s policies are perhaps most pronounced when looking north of the U.S. border. According to the U.S. Travel Association, Canadian visitors generated approximately 20.4 million visits and roughly US$20.5 billion in visitor spending in 2024, supporting about 140,000 American jobs.

The economic impact of fewer Canadian visitors in 2025 affects mostly border states that depend heavily on people driving across the border for retail, restaurants, casinos and short-stay hotels.

The sharp drop in return trips by car to Canada is a direct indication that border economies might be facing stress. This has led elected officials and tourism professionals to woo Canadians in recent months, sometimes with “Canadian-only deals.”

And it isn’t just border states. In Las Vegas, some hotels are now offering currency rate parity between Canadian and U.S. dollars for rooms and gambling vouchers in a bid to attract customers.

Winter-sun states, such as Florida, Arizona and California, are facing both fewer short-stay arrivals and an emerging drop-off in Canadian “snowbirds.” Reports indicate a noticeable increase in Canadians listing U.S. properties in Florida and Arizona for sale and canceling seasonal plans, threatening lodging, health care spending and property tax revenue.

Economic and safety concerns

Economic policies pursued by the Trump administration appear to be among the main reasons visitors are staying away from the U.S. Multiple tariff announcements – pushing tariffs to the highest levels since 1935 – along with tougher border-related rhetoric and an aggressive foreign policy have contributed to a negative perception of the U.S. among would-be tourists.

Many foreigners report feeling unwelcome or uncertain about travel to the U.S., and some public leaders from Canada and Europe have urged citizens to spend domestically, instead. This significantly reduced intent to travel to the U.S. in 2025.

Meanwhile, exchange rates and inflation have further affected some aspiring travelers, especially Canadians. The Canadian dollar was weakened in 2025, making U.S. trips more expensive. This disproportionately affected day-trip and shopping-driven border crossings.

Travelers are also staying away from the U.S. because of safety concerns. Several countries have posted travel advisories about the risks of traveling to the U.S., with Germany being the latest. Although most worries are related to increased border controls, recent aggressive tactics by immigration agents have added to potential visitors’ decisions to avoid the U.S.

Trump and Vance Can’t Be ‘Pro-Life’ While Committing Violence Against Children

Children aren’t exempt from ICE’s violence. And for administration hardliners, that’s the point.

By Jordan Liz

Families detained at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas wave signs during a demonstration on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. Brenda Bazán/Associated Press

On January 20, ICE agents detained a five-year-old child just outside his home in Minnesota. The child was used as “bait” to try to draw family members out of their home.

A widely circulated photo of the boy being apprehended, with his Spiderman backpack and fuzzy little animal ears on his winter hat, may become an indelible image of ICE’s cruelty.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alleges that ICE was conducting a targeted operation against the boy’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias. Yet he and his son had entered the country via an official crossing point. They have an active asylum case and there was no order of deportation against them.

Zena Stenvik, the local school superintendent, reports that this was the fourth child detained by ICE in that community alone. A 10-year-old fourth grader and two 17-year-olds were also taken.

Since then, more children have been abducted. On January 22, ICE agents detained a 2-year-old girl and her father, Elvis Joel Tipan Echeverria, in south Minneapolis. Like Arias and his son, Echeverria and his daughter are asylum seekers without an active order for deportation.

On January 29, two brothers in the second and fifth grades were detained with their mother. She also has a pending asylum case.

Violence towards children is nothing new for the Trump administration. During Trump’s first term, more than 5,000 immigrant children were forcibly separated from their parents. These children were held in dirty, crowded, chain-linked cages and only provided foil sheets to serve as blankets. In December 2024, Human Rights Watch reported that as many as 1,360 children had still not been reunited with their parents.

Observing Lent

Maybe he couldn't pay Trump's billion dollars membership fee

 I'm liking this guy almost as much as Francis

Cotter bill would allow property tax deferment by senior or disabled homeowners

Pay when you're dead

Rep. Megan L. Cotter has filed legislation to help older Rhode Islanders stay in their homes by allowing deferment of their property taxes.

The legislation (2026-H 7567) would apply statewide and would be available to those 62 or older and those of any age who are permanently totally disabled or are disabled veterans. 

Under it, the payment of property taxes on single-family homes owned and occupied by those who qualify could be deferred until the property is disposed because of the death of all owners or otherwise sold or transferred. The deferred amount, which would be subject to a 6% annual interest rate, would constitute a lien on the property and would be added to its final tax bill.

“For most people, a home is their largest asset, an investment in their physical and financial security for life,” said Representative Cotter (D-Dist. 39, Exeter, Richmond, Hopkinton). 

“Unfortunately, staying in that home can become unaffordable when people retire or become disabled. Allowing property tax deferment would provide another option, similar to a reverse mortgage, that would give homeowners more opportunity to age in place and remain in the home they love for the rest of their lives.”

Rhode Island is in court against Trump again, this time over his decision to destroy efforts to curb climate change

CLF: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sued over illegal repeal of climate protections

Steve Ahlquist 

From a CLF press release:

Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), as part of a broad coalition of health and environmental groups, has sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its illegal determination that it is not responsible for protecting us from climate pollution and its elimination of rules to cut the tailpipe pollution fueling the climate crisis and harming people’s health.

The case, filed in the D.C. Circuit, challenges the Trump EPA’s rescission of the 2009 endangerment finding, which found that climate pollution is a threat to public health and welfare. The finding supported common-sense safeguards to cut that pollution, including from cars and trucks. In addition, the agency eliminated the clean vehicle standards, which were set to deliver the single biggest cut to U.S. carbon pollution in history, save lives, and save Americans’ hard-earned money on gas.

The case was brought by:

• The American Public Health Association, American Lung Association, Alliance of Nurses for a Healthy Environment, Clean Wisconsin, represented by Clean Air Task Force (CATF),
• Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ), Clean Air Council, Friends of the Earth, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC), and the Union of Concerned Scientists, represented by Earthjustice, and
• Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation Law Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, Environmental Law & Policy Center, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), Public Citizen, and Sierra Club.

The named defendants are EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and EPA itself as an agency.

“Taking away the endangerment finding doesn’t protect families — it abandons them,” said Conservation Law Foundation Senior Vice President for Law and Policy Kate Sinding Daly. “This scientific determination has for years served as the bedrock of our nation’s efforts to curb deadly pollution and safeguard public health and welfare. Taking it away only absolves the EPA of acting on behalf of every family in the country. We won’t let that stand and we’re prepared to take this fight to court to ensure our communities aren’t left to bear the consequences of unchecked climate-warming pollution.”

Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is legally required to limit vehicle emissions of any “air pollutant” that the agency determines “cause or contribute to air pollution that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare.” 

In 2007, the United States Supreme Court held in Massachusetts v. EPA that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases unambiguously are “air pollutants” under the Clean Air Act and told EPA to determine, based on the science, if that pollution endangers human health and welfare. EPA made that determination in 2009, which led to new standards for vehicles. It built on that finding when issuing other standards.

In its repeal, the Trump EPA is rehashing legal arguments that the Supreme Court already considered and rejected in Massachusetts v. EPA.

Along with the repeal of the endangerment finding, the EPA eliminated all carbon emissions standards from vehicles. The EPA’s clean car standards set in 2024 would save drivers of new cars an average of $6,000 over the lifetime of their vehicles. The EPA’s own analysis found that eliminating vehicle standards will increase gas prices, force Americans to spend more on fuel, and have a net negative effect on the economy.

Rhode Island Health Department warning to pet owners whose pets have gotten rabies shots recently

Animal Rabies Vaccine Recalled

Make sure they get the RIGHT shots

The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) are alerting pet owners, animal control officers, and municipal clerks that a shipment of rabies vaccine is being recalled because some vials in that shipment may have contained sterile water instead of rabies vaccine. 

This vaccine was received by veterinarians, including veterinarians in Rhode Island, between September 29, 2025 and January 8, 2026. The recalled vaccine was made by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health. The recalled lot is IMRAB 3TF, vaccine; 1 mL; Serial 18665; expiration date March 12, 2027. Other manufacturers and brands, and other serial lots manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim, are not affected by this recall. 

Rhode Island law requires dogs, cats, and ferrets to be vaccinated against rabies. Any animal that was vaccinated with this lot will not be considered currently vaccinated for rabies management or dog licensing purposes. 

Any pet that was administered this recalled product should be revaccinated against rabies. There are no health concerns for pets with being administered sterile water or with being readministered rabies vaccine. 

Without Evidence, US Cancer Institute Studying Ivermectin’s ‘Ability to Kill Cancer Cells’

Once touted by MAGA as a COVID cure, Bobby Jr. is now ordering it be studied as a cancer cure. Really.

After Trump cancelled billions for real cancer research, we get this

Rachana Pradhan

The National Cancer Institute, the federal research agency charged with leading the war against the nation’s second-largest killer, is studying ivermectin as a potential cancer treatment, according to its top official.

“There are enough reports of it, enough interest in it, that we actually did — ivermectin, in particular — did engage in sort of a better preclinical study of its properties and its ability to kill cancer cells,” said Anthony Letai, a physician the Trump administration appointed as NCI director in September.

Letai did not cite new evidence that might have prompted the institute to research the effectiveness of the antiparasitic drug against cancer. The drug, largely used to treat people or animals for infections caused by parasites, is a popular dewormer for horses.

“We’ll probably have those results in a few months,” Letai said. “So we are taking it seriously.”

He spoke about ivermectin at a Jan. 30 event, “Reclaiming Science: The People’s NIH,” with National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya and other senior agency officials at Washington, D.C.’s Willard Hotel. The MAHA Institute hosted the discussion, framed by the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The National Cancer Institute is the largest of the NIH’s 27 branches.

During the covid pandemic, ivermectin’s popularity surged as fringe medical groups promoted it as an effective treatment. Clinical trials have found it isn’t effective against covid.

Ivermectin has become a symbol of resistance against the medical establishment among MAHA adherents and conservatives. Like-minded commentators and wellness and other online influencers have hyped — without evidence — ivermectin as a miracle cure for a host of diseases, including cancer. Trump officials have pointed to research on ivermectin as an example of the administration’s receptiveness to ideas the scientific establishment has rejected.

“If lots of people believe it and it’s moving public health, we as NIH have an obligation, again, to treat it seriously,” Bhattacharya said at the event. According to The Chronicle at Duke University, Bhattacharya recently said he wants the NIH to be “the research arm of MAHA.”

The decision by the world’s premier cancer research institute to study ivermectin as a cancer treatment has alarmed career scientists at the agency.

“I am shocked and appalled,” one NCI scientist said. “We are moving funds away from so much promising research in order to do a preclinical study based on nonscientific ideas. It’s absurd.”

KFF Health News granted the scientist and other NCI workers anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press and fear retaliation.

HHS and the National Cancer Institute did not answer KFF Health News’ questions on the amount of money the cancer institute is spending on the study, who is carrying it out, and whether there was new evidence that prompted NCI to look into ivermectin as an anticancer therapy. Emily Hilliard, an HHS spokesperson, said NIH is dedicated to “rigorous, gold-standard research,” something the administration has repeatedly professed.

A golden calf speaks at the National Prayer Breakfast

Go figure: Evangelicals love a lying, accused child-rapist, convicted felon, narcissist who doesn't go to church, doesn't know the Bible and spreads racism and hate

Sabrina Haake

On February 5, Trump addressed the 2026 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., a tradition President Dwight Eisenhower began in 1953 to solemnify the confluence of faith, gratitude, and public service. At Eisenhower’s ceremony, after he swore the oath of office, he delivered an unscripted and spontaneous prayer of humility, calling on God to “make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people.”

Seventy-odd years later at this year’s national prayer breakfast, Trump met Eisenhower’s prayer of humility and raised him one.

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Instead of somber reflection or words to soothe an anxious nation, Trump used the national prayer to deliver a blasphemous meditation on Trump: 77 minutes of self-indulgence, grievance and hatred.

Using national prayer to promote violence

Trump opened his remarks by maligning the press, complaining that he never gets “a fair break from the fake news, which is (points dismissively) back there.”

Then, only three sentences in, he started referring to himself referentially as “Sir” while calling everyone else by their first name.

Forgetting the prayer theme of the breakfast, Trump joked about murdering people in Venezuela like it was locker room talk. “I was just talking to a great leader from El Salvador and he said, man, that was some attack, I’ve never seen anything like that one. Right? Right?” Continuing his banter with the murderous Bukele across the room, Trump laughed, “That (violent attack) was good even by your high standard, right? That was a hell of an attack.”

Only ghouls or morons would think that was funny. In a rule of law world, Trump would be hauled into the ICC on multiple charges of murder.

He's not a racist

Get out there

Courtney Cox to discuss gender, media, politics within basketball at upcoming URI humanities lecture

But not THAT Courteney Cox

James Bessette 

Courtney M. Cox follows athletes, coaches, journalists and advocates of women’s basketball as they pursue careers within the sport. She also explores the intersection of race and gender against the backdrop of many leagues around the United States and the world, such as the WNBA and the NCAA.

In Cox’s book, Double Crossover: Gender, Media, and Politics in Global Basketball, she explores how Black women and nonbinary athletes maneuver through the global sports media complex. Cox, a former ESPN associate director and now associate professor at the University of Oregon, will discuss her book and work during the University of Rhode Island’s Humanities and Popular Culture/Counterculture lecture series. 

Cox’s talk, followed by a book signing and reception, will be held Thursday, Feb. 26, at 4 p.m., in the Hope Room of the Robert J. Higgins Welcome Center, 45 Upper College Road, on the Kingston Campus.

The year-long lecture series, hosted by the URI Center for the Humanities, has already featured talks on music and social justice, art and Black Southern life, and Indigenous peoples’ space in pop culture. The series is co-sponsored by the URI College of Arts and Sciences, Division of Research and Economic Development, Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, a grant from the Mellon Foundation, and Department of Philosophy.

Bobby Jr.'s anti-vax committee sets its sight on proven anti-cancer vaccine

The HPV vaccine prevents cancer. The new ACIP wants to re-examine that.

Jake Scott, MD

Here's a win for Bobby Jr. - driving Moderna out of the
vaccine business

The vaccine against human papillomavirus, or HPV, has reduced cervical cancer by nearly 90% in women vaccinated as adolescents. It has been studied in more than 70 randomized controlled trials. Over 135 million doses have been administered in the United States. 

And last month, a newly formed working group under the reconstituted Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which helps guide vaccine decisions by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced plans to conduct a multi-year "comprehensive review" of the vaccine's efficacy, effectiveness, and safety.

The working group's charter, finalized in December 2025, does not limit itself to the one genuinely open question in HPV vaccine science, whether a single dose provides adequate long-term protection. It calls for a sweeping reexamination that includes adjuvant toxicity, potential contaminants, possible HPV type replacement, and a full reassessment of safety data. It lists neurology and toxicology among the disciplines to be represented on the working group. 

And it operates under an ACIP that was reconstituted in June 2025 after Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 prior members and replaced them with appointees who include paid expert witnesses against the product now under review.

Messy weather in Charlestown through next Monday

Temps too high for snow to stick, but there might be some ice

By Will Collette

Our winter weather continues to be worse than it has been in several years. The National Weather Service forecast for Charlestown calls for daytime temps above freezing, continuing the melt, and nighttime temps a little below freezing.

Lots of precipitation on the way mixing rain, snow and freezing rain. Very little snow accumulation is expected. But roads could get sloppy nonetheless, especially if we get even the slightest amount of ice. 

The pattern of snow that doesn't stick alternating with freezing rain that might is expected to continue through Monday. The NWS says we will see sunshine on Tuesday but weather just below freezing and brisk wind.

As it stands, NOAA is forecasting a 35% chance that Charlestown could get 0.01 inches of ice. While those are good odds for us, just the tiniest amount of black ice could put you in a world of hurt. So please be very careful.

The question of the ages: Is it OK to sit on public toilet seats?

How can we stop this menace when HHS Secretary Bobby Kennedy Jr. lets his grandkids swim in sewage?

Lotti Tajouri, Bond University

If you’re a parent or have a chronic health condition that needs quick or frequent trips to the bathroom, you’ve probably mapped out the half-decent public toilets in your area.

But sometimes, you don’t have a choice and have to use a toilet that looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in weeks. Do you brave it and sit on the seat?

What if it looks relatively clean: do you still worry that sitting on the seat could make you sick?

What’s in a public toilet?

Healthy adults produce more than a liter of urine and more than 100 grams of poo daily. Everybody sheds bacteria and viruses in feces (poo) and urine, and some of this ends up in the toilet.

Some people, especially those with diarrhea, may shed more harmful microbes (bacteria and viruses) when they use the toilet.

Public toilets can be a “microbial soup”, especially when many people use them and cleaning isn’t frequent as it should be.

What germs are found on toilet seats?

Many types of microbes have been found on toilet seats and surrounding areas. These include:

• bacteria from the gut, such as E. coli, Klebsiella, Enterococcus, and viruses such as norovirus and rotavirus. These can cause gastroenteritis, with bouts of vomiting and diarrhea

• bacteria from the skin, including Staphylococcus aureus and even multi-drug resistant S.aureus and other bacteria such as pseudomonas and acinetobacter. These can cause infections

• eggs from parasites (worms) that are carried in poo, and single-celled organisms such as protozoa. These can cause abdominal pain.

There’s also something called biofilm, a mix of germs that builds up under toilet rims and on surfaces.

Are toilet seats the dirtiest part?

No. A recent study showed public toilet seats often have fewer microbes than other locations in public toilets, such as door handles, faucet knobs and toilet flush levers. These parts are touched a lot and often with unwashed hands.

Public toilets in busy places are used hundreds or even thousands of times each week. Some are cleaned often, but others (such as those in parks or bus stops) may only be cleaned once a day or much less, so germs can build up quickly. The red flags that a toilet hasn’t been cleaned are the smell of urine, soiled floors and what is obvious to your eyes.

However, the biggest problem isn’t just sitting: it’s what happens when toilets are flushed. When you flush without a lid, a “toilet plume” shoots tiny droplets into the air. These droplets can contain bacteria and viruses from the toilet bowl and travel up to 2 meters.