Synthetic Dyes Still Found in One in Five U.S. Foods, Study Finds
By George Institute for Global Health
Synthetic dyes are frequently added to make foods look more
appealing, especially those sold to children. However, a growing body of
research suggests these additives may contribute to or worsen behavioral
problems such as hyperactivity and inattention.[2]
No one is safe from an unrestrained secret police force
Do not open the door unless
ICE presents a valid judicial warrant signed by a judge. Most ICE warrants are
administrative and do not allow them to enter your home without permission.
A valid judicial warrant: 1.
Names a person in your residence and/or what specific areas are to be searched
at your residence and 2. Is signed by a judge (must be a judge that is not an
immigration judge)
An administrative warrant is:
signed by an ICE officer
(If you need help determining
what is a valid judicial warrant you can review this resource: https://www.nilc.org/resources/know-your-rights-warrants/)
Ask ICE to slide the warrant
under the door for you to review. Do not open the door to receive the warrant.
If an ICE agent enters your
home without your permission or a valid judicial warrant, do not physically
resist as that could subject you to potential criminal charges. But make it
clear that you did not provide consent.
If ICE begins to search your home, make it clear that you do not consent to the search.
You do have a right to remain
silent or state clearly: “I am exercising my right to remain silent.”
If you do not remain silent,
do not lie to ICE agents as that may impact you in the future.
Record the interaction if it
is safe to do so or ask someone else to record it. If you record, do not
interfere with the ICE operation.
IF YOU ARE APPROACHED BY ICE
AT WORK:
ICE can enter the public
space of any workplace without any type of warrant.
Public spaces can include an
office lobby, a supermarket, retail store, or dining area of a restaurant.
ICE cannot legally enter the
private space of a workplace unless they have the permission of your employer
or a judicial warrant. Private spaces include employee-only areas.
If approached, do not panic.
Stay calm and avoid running or making sudden movements.
Ask if you are free to leave.
If yes, calmly walk away. If you are not free to leave, ask if you are being
detained. If you are being detained, you do not have to answer any questions.
You always have the right to remain silent.
If you are asked about
another person’s identification or for information pertaining to another
person’s whereabouts, you do not have to answer those questions.
If you are being detained,
you must show a form of identification. You can use your non-expired
state-issued ID or Tribal ID to show your United States citizenship.
If an ICE agent does not
accept your Tribal ID, request to speak with their supervisor. Not all ICE
agents are aware that a Tribal ID is a legal form of identification in the
United States.
Do not sign anything without
consulting an attorney.
If it is safe to do so, record the interaction or ask someone else to record it. Do not interfere with the operation.
IF YOU ARE APPROACHED BY ICE IN PUBLIC:
ICE can enter public spaces
without any type of warrant.
Public spaces include an
office lobby, a supermarket, retail store or dining area of a restaurant.
If approached, do not panic.
Stay calm and avoid running or making sudden movements.
Ask if you are free to leave.
If yes, calmly walk away. If you are not free to leave, ask if you are being
detained. If you are being detained, you do not have to answer any questions.
You always have the right to remain silent.
If you are being detained,
you must show a form of identification.
You can use your non-expired
state-issued ID or Tribal ID to show your United States citizenship.
If an ICE agent does not
accept your Tribal ID, request to speak with their supervisor. Not all ICE
agents are aware that a Tribal ID is a legal form of identification in the
United States.
If it is safe to do so,
record the interaction or ask someone else to record it. Do not interfere with
the operation.
Charlestown’s Rep. Tina Spears and Sen. Victoria Gu among them
By Will Collette
This new group was founded by Trump supporter David Levesque,
a Warwick coffee shop owner who says he was motivated by the state’s passage of
a ban on assault weapons. In addition to gun rights, the League
is also vehemently opposed to taxes on the rich such as the state’s new
Taylor Swift law that levees a state surcharge on high-priced absentee-owned
property.
The
League has already announced a slate of candidates and plans to recruit
more who will push Levesque’s MAGA agenda. Most of his targets are women, all
are Democrats. Most of the targets voted to ban military-style assault rifles.
Who is on the LORIB target list in South County?
Levesque is looking for candidates to challenge:
In all but one instance, the League is backing DINO
candidates in the hope of unseating incumbents in the Democratic primary. The
exception is Sen. Victoria Gu – LORIB’s only Republican pick is MAGAnut Westin
Place who was trounced by Victoria twice (2022 and 2024).
Levesque also has a major South County footprint as a Narragansett
resident and principal in the following businesses:
I am hoping Levesque’s focus on the primaries will backfire.
By definition, only registered Democrats can vote in those primaries and
primary voters tend to pay more attention than voters in the General election.
Democratic Town Committees will need to make sure voters understand what’s at
stake and may need to prepare to counter business-sponsored mailer blitzes.
The Providence Journal says the League of Rhode Island Businesses “pledged full financial support” to its endorsed candidates. Whether Levesque can actually raise enough money to back up that pledge remains to be seen. It’s not showing up in any serious way in their most recent Campaign Finance reports.
The League of RI Businesses Charlestown reported a cash
balance of $15. Its registered office is in Cranston.
Last October, attorney Leah Boisclair was among the first of
the LORIB candidates to declare, bagging a Westerly
Sun “top story.” The article was pretty much a news release, light on detail
and high on puff. However, looking a little deeper into Boisclair’s record,
there wasn’t much there besides her defense of criminal defendants.
She’s a defense attorney who, according to her website, defends clients
charged with violent crime, domestic abuse, crimes against property and sex
crimes.
She is a self-described "Sex Crimes Defense Attorney." I'm not making this up.
Of course, under the Constitution, everyone is judged to be
innocent until proven guilty and is entitled to a defense. Here is a list
copied directly
from her website listing the types of sex crimes she defends:
Sexual Assault
Child Molestation
Sex Crimes Charges
Child Exploitation or Harm
Prostitution-Related Offenses
I’m not making any of this up – this is from HER website.
Again, while everyone is entitled to a defense and
presumption of innocence, I’m sure glad I’m not the one doing the defending.
Further, I’m not very comfortable with this promotional piece, especially the stilettos and underwear, shown in this screenshot from
her website:
Given her portfolio, her practice would probably be very
successful in Washington, DC with its abundance of pedos and sexual predators.
Maybe her MAGA sponsor felt that this portfolio was a plus for her. This is a
question that I hope will be explored during the campaign.
I didn’t see much in her history about any sort of public
service or civic engagement. She waitressed at the Homestead on Route 2 and
staffed a booth for the Grange at the Washington County Fair, but that was
about it. She’s running as a Democrat, but I’ve never seen her at any local Democratic
function.
Maybe we’ll learn more about her as the campaign year
progresses.
I’ll also be curious to see whether the Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA) weighs in. The CCA backed Libertarian Republican Blake “Flip” Filippi in his defeat of long-time District 36 state Rep. Donna Walsh. Will they support the LORIB PAC effort to oust Rep. Spears and Senator Gu?
But for now, Charlestown has an outstanding state representative in Tina Spears who is running for reelection to a 3rd term. Compare her record of community service and legislative effectiveness to Boisclair’s and I believe the choice is clear.
In ‘Unhinged’ Rant, Miller Says US Has Right to Take Over Any Country For Its Resources
Julia Conley for Common Dreams
 |
| Miller's wife Katie tweeted this map. Kinda says it all |
To Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.),
however, Miller was simply providing viewers with “a very good definition
of imperialism”
as he described the worldview the administration is operating under as it takes
control of Venezuela and
eyes other countries, including Greenland, that it
believes it can and should invade.
“This is what imperialism is all about,” Sanders told CNN‘s
Jake Tapper. “And I suspect that people all over the world are saying, ‘Wow,
we’re going back to where we were 100 years ago, or 50 years ago, where the
big, powerful countries were exploiting poorer countries for their natural
resources.’”
The senator spoke to Tapper shortly after Miller’s
interview, in which the news anchor asked whether President Donald Trump would
support holding an election in Venezuela days after the US military bombed
the country and abducted President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Miller refused to directly engage with the question, saying
only that it would be “absurd and preposterous” for the US to install
Venezuelan opposition leader MarÃa Corina Machado as the leader of the country,
before asking Tapper to “give [him] the floor” and allow him to explain the
White House’s view on foreign policy.
“The United States is
using its military to secure our interests unapologetically in our hemisphere,”
said Miller. “We’re a superpower and under President Trump we are going to
conduct ourselves as a superpower. It is absurd that we would allow a nation in
our backyard to become the supplier of resources to our adversaries but not to
us.”
Instead of “demanding that elections be held” in Venezuela,
he added, “the future of the free world depends on America to be able to assert
ourselves and our interests without an apology.”
Why It Still Makes Sense to Limit Saturated Fats
By Joshua Cohen
After repeated delays, the United States Department of Health and Human Services published new dietary guidelines on Jan. 7, which for the first time prioritize certain sources of saturated fats. “We are ending the war on saturated fats,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared at a press conference. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary lamented that for decades there’s been a “myopic focus on demonizing natural, healthy saturated fats.”
Maybe that's where he got his brain worm
While the new guidelines say that generally, “saturated fat consumption should not exceed 10% of total daily calories,” the document’s new food pyramid features red meat, cheese, and whole milk at or near the top. The guidelines also advise Americans who cook with oils to use those “with essential fatty acids,” while offering butter and beef tallow as additional options. Christopher Gardner, a professor at Stanford University and a member of the most recent guidelines advisory committee, told NPR that he is "very disappointed in the new pyramid that features red meat and saturated fat sources at the very top, as if that's something to prioritize. It does go against decades and decades of evidence and research."
These are significant changes. For more than 45 years, the guidelines have cautioned against overconsumption of saturated fats. And while nutrition research is notorious for producing conflicting findings on the risks and benefits of a range of foods — including fats — this particular pivot has many experts worried. This is partly because the health risks associated with higher consumption of saturated fats are well-documented, and partly because the new guidance could inadvertently create a situation in which foods such as red meat end up displacing healthier fiber-filled options.
The guidelines are a cornerstone of federal food and nutrition guidance, updated every five years to reflect changes in science. National dietary guidance has historically been quite impactful. Health care providers and dietitians refer to them when advising patients. The guidelines also influence federal nutrition policy and programs and inform school lunch menus.
Two articles: Kids don't need no stinkin' vaccinations
Trump and Bobby Jr. seem intent on bringing back infectious diseases for reasons unknown
Stephanie Soucheray, MA and Liz Szabo, MA
The new vaccination policy,
which takes effect immediately, is modeled after the schedule used by
Denmark. Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
will continue to recommend 11 shots for all children, six others will be
recommended only for children deemed to be at high risk of infection, said the
agency’s acting director, Jim O’Neill.
A third group of vaccines will be available through “shared
clinical decision-making” with medical providers.
Public health experts immediately decried the
change. Experts said there’s no reason to change a system that has prevented 1.1 million
deaths over the past 30 years.
“Abandoning the U.S. evidence-based process is a dangerous
and potentially deadly decision for Americans,” said Jason M. Goldman, MD,
president of the American College of Physicians. “The evidence is clear that
vaccines prevent deaths, hospitalizations, and spread of disease.”
All the signs are here
First, it’s clear that if there hadn’t been video of the
execution of Renee Nicole Good, ICE would have just murdered her, lied, and
moved on. This is, in fact, what is almost certainly happening
all around our country. We are outraged about this particular instance
of wanton violence because we saw it. We should keep in mind what this implies
about everything we’re not seeing.
Second, if a masked thug can do this to Good—can shoot her
three times in the face, and call her a “fucking bitch” as she bleeds out, and
then be named a hero by Trump and his entire administration—if ICE can do that
to a friendly mother in a car filled with her kids’ stuffies who told those
thugs explicitly, “I’m not mad at you,” then there is nobody they
can’t do this to. Every one of us is vulnerable to being murdered in
cold blood, and then having the president of the United States say we were
domestic terrorists who deserved to die.
Dismantling this unaccountable, overtly fascist domestic
militia is nonnegotiable, and we need to insist on this commitment in all of
our communications with every Democratic official who wants to keep their seat.
Fourth, particularly after this week, it is essentially
impossible to deny that we have crossed the Rubicon—that “it” is, in fact,
happening here. A quick survey of the developments leading to every major
fascist takeover of a state in the 20th century illustrates the degree to which
all the pieces are currently on the board:
I know I’m not saying anything new here. But it’s
worthwhile, sometimes, to step back and get a bird’s eye look at the landscape.
When you do so, it becomes undeniable: It is happening here.
Trump worsens the shortage of nurses
Tens of thousands of nurses have left practice since the pandemic, and many more plan to leave within a few years, according to the 2024 National Nursing Workforce Survey, which reviews the number of registered nurses working in the U.S.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there will be an average of 189,100 openings for registered nurses each year through 2032. In addition, there will be a need for approximately 128,400 new nurse practitioners by 2034 – making it the fastest-growing occupation in the country.
The tax and spending package signed into law in July 2025 will take effect on July 1, 2026. Among other things, it will likely make it even harder for people to take out loans and help pay for a graduate nursing degree.
We are nurses and professors who oversee large nursing programs at universities. We believe that new restrictions on how nursing students can take out federal loans to pay for their education are likely to prevent people from pursuing advanced nursing roles.
These new regulations will cause the shortage of practicing nurses to intensify – in turn, worsening the quality of care patients receive.
Clinics may offer fewer appointments, hospitals may be forced to reduce services, and nursing programs may have to accept fewer students. As a result, some patients will wait longer, travel farther, or not see nurses altogether.
Someone can become a registered nurse with an associate or bachelor’s degree. But a graduate-level degree is needed for other nursing roles – including nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists and nurse midwives.
Nursing school costs vary greatly, depending on which degree students are seeking and whether they attend a public or private school. Roughly three-quarters of graduate nursing students rely on student loans and graduate with debt to pay for programs that can range from US$30,000 to $120,000 or more.
We have found that nursing students, unlike medical students, often work while enrolled in their programs, stretching their education over longer periods and accumulating additional costs.
The tax and spending law eliminates several federal grants and loan repayment programs for nurses and aspiring nurse educators – faculty members who teach nursing students in colleges and universities.
The law also sharply restricts how much money graduate nursing students can borrow through federal student loans.
Approximately 59% of 1,550 nurses surveyed in December 2025 said that they are now less likely to pursue a graduate degree with the new borrowing limit changes.
Nurse practitioners provide the majority of primary care in the U.S. – particularly in rural areas and communities with few physicians.
In addition, certified registered nurse anesthetists administer anesthesia for surgeries and procedures in many areas. Meanwhile, certified nurse-midwives deliver babies and provide prenatal and postpartum care, especially in areas where there are few obstetricians.
Long waits for new patient appointments are now common across the country, with national surveys showing that patients often wait weeks to months before they receive medical care.
About a decade ago, new patients could often book appointments within days to a few weeks; but today, there are fewer available medical appointments and medical professionals to treat them. This is particularly true for many medical practices serving women, older adults and rural communities.
One of us – Dr. Montgomery – is a women’s health nurse practitioner who routinely sees patients wait months for new appointments in the mid-Atlantic. These delays translate into postponed cancer screenings, delayed medication management and untreated chronic conditions.
Research consistently shows that nursing shortages are associated with worse patient outcomes, including higher mortality and delayed treatment.
Court rules Trump is wrong on wind - again
By Ariana Figueroa and Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current
Judge Royce C. Lamberth rejected the Trump administration’s national security arguments, finding they didn’t provide “a sufficient explanation” for issuing a Dec. 22 stop work order on Revolution Wind, a 65-turbine project already 87% completed. He found the entire 704-megawatt project would be imperiled if he did not order work to resume and issued a preliminary injunction to block the administration’s pause.
Lamberth was nominated by former President Ronald Reagan.
Project developers along with state attorneys general in Rhode Island and Connecticut filed new motions in an existing federal lawsuit in January after the Interior Department last month suspended construction. Four other projects off the coasts of Massachusetts, Virginia and New York were also subject to the stop work order. Rhode Island’s is the first to be overturned.
Construction will resume “as soon as possible,” Meaghan Wims, a spokesperson for Orsted A/S, project co-developer, said in a statement Monday.
COVID has NOT gone away - it kills 100,000+ Americans every year
.webp)
Using hospitalization data from the COVID-19 Hospitalization
Surveillance Network, which covers approximately 10% of the US population, a
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research team estimated that COVID
caused roughly 43.6 million illnesses, 10 million outpatient visits, 1.1
million hospitalizations, and 101,300 deaths during the 2022–23 respiratory
illness season.
In the following season, COVID-related illnesses declined to
roughly 33 million, outpatient visits fell to 7.7 million, and hospitalizations
dropped to 879,100. But the number of deaths in the 2023–24 respiratory
season—an estimated 100,800—remained essentially the same.
Adults 65 years and older shouldered a disproportionate
share of the burden. Although they make up less than 20% of the US population,
older adults accounted for nearly half (47.5%) of all COVID illnesses, roughly
two-thirds (67.5%) of hospitalizations, and over 80% of deaths (81.3%) during
the study period. On average, approximately 1 in 100 adults aged 65 years and
older were hospitalized for COVID each year.
