Dear Leader's Thanksgiving

Holiday greeting from Rhode Island Energy: PAY us more

Rhode Island Energy proposes increases in customer electric and gas service charges

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

More bad news for Rhode Islanders struggling to pay their energy bills: Hikes are coming.

Rhode Island Energy unveiled its long-anticipated request to increase service charges for gas and electric customers in a press release the day before the Thanksgiving holiday. An application spanning thousands of pages across 21 separate documents was simultaneously submitted to the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission for review.

If approved, the increases would take effect in September 2026.

For the first year, the average residential electric customer would see their monthly bills rise $7.78, or 4.83%, while a typical residential gas customer would pay $343.53 more, a 20.6% increase, according to Rhode Island Energy’s proposal. Charges would rise again in the second year, with another $1.56 added to monthly electric bills, on average, and $89.43 more tacked on to annual gas bills.

Anticipating the fury coming its way, Rhode Island Energy President Greg Cornett had already attempted to justify the proposal by highlighting the benefits for customers. 

Everyday microplastics could be fueling heart disease especially in men

Microplastics may be silently fueling heart disease by damaging the very cells that keep arteries healthy.

University of California - Riverside

Microplastics dramatically intensified plaque buildup in male mice and interfered with the cells lining their arteries. The study points to direct cardiovascular harm from widespread environmental exposure. Credit: Shutterstock

A research team at the University of California, Riverside has found that routine exposure to microplastics -- tiny pieces released from packaging, fabrics, and common consumer plastics -- may speed up the formation of atherosclerosis, the artery-narrowing condition associated with heart attacks and strokes. The effect appeared only in male mice, offering new insight into how microplastics may influence cardiovascular health in people.

"Our findings fit into a broader pattern seen in cardiovascular research, where males and females often respond differently," said lead researcher Changcheng Zhou, a professor of biomedical sciences in the UCR School of Medicine. "Although the precise mechanism isn't yet known, factors like sex chromosomes and hormones, particularly the protective effects of estrogen, may play a role."

How farmers screwed themselves by supporting Trump

Farmers – long Trump backers – bear the costs of new tariffs, restricted immigration and slashed renewable energy subsidies

Kee Hyun Park, Nanyang Technological University; Institute for Humane Studies and Shannon P. Carcelli, University of Maryland

Few political alliances in recent American history have seemed as solid as the one between Donald Trump and the country’s farmers. Through three elections, farmers stood by Trump even as tariffs, trade wars and labor shortages squeezed profits.

But Trump’s second term may be different.

A new round of administration policies now cuts deeper into farmers’ livelihoods – not just squeezing profits but reshaping how farms survive – through renewed tariffs on agricultural products, visa restrictions on farm workers, reduced farm subsidies and open favoritism toward South American agricultural competitors.

In the past, farmers’ loyalty to Trump has overridden economics. In our study of the 2018–19 trade war between the U.S. and China, we found that farmers in Trump-voting counties kept planting soybeans even though the trade war’s effects were clear: Their costs would rise and their profits would fall. Farmers in Democratic-leaning counties, by contrast, shifted acreage toward alternatives such as corn or wheat that were likely to be more profitable. For many pro-Trump farmers, political belief outweighed market logic – at least in the short term.

Today, the economic effects of policies affecting farmers are broader and deeper – and the resolve that carried farmers’ support for Trump through the first trade war may no longer be enough.

Tariffs: The familiar pain returns

The revived U.S.-China trade conflict has again placed soybeans at its center. In March 2025, Beijing suspended import licenses for several major U.S. soybean exporters following new U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump countered with a new round of reciprocal tariffs, broadening the list of Chinese imports hit and raising rates on already targeted goods.

An October 2025 deal promised China would buy 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans a year, but relief has proved mostly symbolic.

Before the 2018-19 trade war, China regularly imported 30 million to 36 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans annually — more than one-third of all American soybean exports. Now, Beijing has signed long-term contracts with Brazil and Argentina, leaving U.S. producers with shrinking overseas demand for their crops.

Is the DOJ Serious About Investigating Beef Price-Fixing?

Or will they just blame immigrants and Democrats?

By Philip Mattera, director of the Corporate Research Project of Good Jobs First, for the Dirt Diggers Digest

This administration must be on drugs

Apparently shaken by the Democratic gains in this month’s elections, Donald Trump has changed his tune on the economy. He still tries to get us to believe everything is marvelous, but at the same time he has rolled out a series of proposals designed to give the impression he is addressing the affordability crisis.

Most of these initiatives do not amount to much. The rollback of tariffs on some food products is easing an aspect of inflation Trump himself caused. The idea of getting banks to offer 50-year home mortgages would result in modest monthly savings for borrowers while causing them to pay much more in interest over the life of the loan and slow the rate at which they build equity in their homes. 

It is unclear whether the deals he has been making with pharmaceutical companies will result in significant cost reductions for consumers. The suggestion that Obamacare subsidies be replaced with payments to health savings accounts would result in the proliferation of junk insurance policies and financial ruin for those with serious health conditions.

What these initiatives also have in common is that they do not challenge corporate interests in any significant way. The one possible exception to this is Trump’s call for a probe of price fixing in the beef industry.

Happy Trumpsgiving

Thanks where it's actually due

Yet another lunatic post by King Donald

This comes from the President of the United States. 

Trump seeks rollback of protections for endangered species

Trump Administration Seeks ESA Regulatory Rollbacks, Risks Accelerating Extinction for America’s Most Vulnerable Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife

In a move that could accelerate the extinction crisis we face today, the Trump administration proposed significant changes to the regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act, which, for more than 50 years, has served as the backstop to America’s most imperiled wildlife. 

The administration’s proposed revisions to Sections 4, 4(d) and 7 regulations would weaken some of the protections that have helped prevent the extinction of iconic species.

“America’s imperiled wildlife remains at an uncertain crossroads, with one road pointing toward extinction and the other toward recovery. The Trump administration’s proposals announced today seek to undermine critical portions of the Endangered Species Act and will make recovery for many of those species that much more difficult,” said Andrew Bowman, president and CEO at Defenders of Wildlife. 

“These devasting proposals disregard proven science and risk reversing decades of bipartisan progress to protect our shared national heritage and the wildlife that make America so special.”

Trump action became inevitable after this happened

“The ESA is one of the world’s most powerful laws for conservation and is responsible for keeping 99% of listed species from extinction,” said Jane Davenport, senior attorney at Defenders of Wildlife. “But the ESA is only as effective as the regulations that implement it. Rolling back these regulations risks reversing the ESA’s historic success and threatens the wellbeing of plant and animal species that pollinate our crops, generate medicine, keep our waterways clean and support local economies.”

These proposed rollbacks would make it easier for federal agencies to greenlight destructive projects, such as mining, drilling, logging and overdevelopment, without fully assessing their impact on threatened and endangered species or their habitats. The move would also allow economic interests to influence decisions about which species warrant protection and which critical habitat receives federal designation. In addition, automatic protections for some threatened species would be eliminated.

Mayo Clinic says you should stop believing these eight back pain myths

For example, surgery is not the only or best option in all cases

By Mayo Clinic

Back pain is one of the most prevalent health issues globally, affecting up to 80% of individuals at some point in their lives and ranking among the leading causes of disability across all age groups. 

The condition encompasses a broad spectrum of problems involving muscles, ligaments, intervertebral discs, nerves, and the vertebral column itself, making its origins multifactorial and often difficult to pinpoint.

Its impact reaches far beyond individual discomfort—chronic or recurrent back pain contributes to reduced mobility, lost workdays, and diminished quality of life, placing a significant burden on healthcare systems worldwide.

Despite its commonality, several misconceptions about it persist.

Meghan Murphy, M.D., a neurosurgeon with the Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato, outlines eight of the most frequent myths and explains what scientific evidence actually shows.

Myth: Lifting heavy objects is the main cause of back pain.

Fact: Lifting heavy objects with poor form can contribute to back pain, but the major culprits are a sedentary lifestyle, poor posture, obesity, and genetic factors.

Myth: Bed rest will make my back pain better.

Fact: Probably not, but it depends on the cause of your pain. If it’s muscle strain, taking it easy for a few days may help. However, bed rest can also make back pain last longer or even worsen. If your pain is from nerve compression, a disc issue, or joint degeneration, inactivity can cause muscles to tighten, pain to worsen, loss of physical condition, and more debility. In these cases, you should modify your activities, switch to low-impact exercises like walking and swimming, and avoid movements like bending, twisting, or lifting. Maintaining some degree of physical activity can help you heal faster.

Renewable energy is cheaper and healthier – so why isn’t it replacing fossil fuels faster?

One word: Trump

Jay Gulledge, University of Notre Dame; University of Tennessee

You might not know it from the headlines, but there is some good news about the global fight against climate change.

A decade ago, the cheapest way to meet growing demand for electricity was to build more coal or natural gas power plants. Not anymore. Solar and wind power aren’t just better for the climate; they’re also less expensive today than fossil fuels at utility scale, and they’re less harmful to people’s health.

Yet renewable energy projects face headwinds, including in the world’s fast-growing developing countries. I study energy and climate solutions and their impact on society, and I see ways to overcome those challenges and expand renewable energy – but it will require international cooperation.

Stop Pretending Trump Has a Coherent Economic Strategy

Trump's only apparent strategy is to enrich himself, his families and his buds 

He also loves making people, markets and countries jump whenever he tries out some new idea that pops into his head

Dean Baker for Beat the Press

Trump's only strategy is self-enrichment

It is striking that many people feel the need to claim that Donald Trump has some coherent economic plan for the country. It’s understandable that Trump’s team likes to pretend that his random ramblings and angry acts of revenge are all part of some grand strategy, but why would anyone not on his payroll play along with this obvious absurdity?

To anyone paying attention, it should be pretty clear that Donald Trump is clueless about the economy. 

Just to take an obvious example to make the point: Trump has repeatedly promised to lower drug prices by 800, 900, or even 1,500%. As he rightly says, no one thought it was possible.

It wouldn’t be a big deal that he got confused once or twice and forgot that you can’t lower prices by more than 100%, unless you envision drug companies paying people to use their drugs. But Trump has done this repeatedly, over many months.

This tells us two things. First, he really doesn’t have even a basic understanding of arithmetic and percentages. That would be bad in and of itself. After all the president is sometimes directly negotiating deals, and it would be bad if he agreed to something and then had to call back his negotiating partner and tell them he didn’t understand what he had agreed to.

But the other issue is even more serious. Surely people like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Kevin Hassett, Trump’s national economic adviser, understand percentages. But apparently, they are too scared of Trump to explain how they work. Instead, they let him go out week after week and make a fool of himself by making nonsensical promises on lowering drug prices.

This fact is crucial if we are trying to assess whether Trump has a coherent economic strategy. The point is he is obviously confused about many things when it comes to the economy. He seems to think that other countries pay tariffs and send the US checks. He also seems to think that wind and solar power are very expensive sources of energy. And he seems to think that the economy was collapsing when he took office.

This little piggy

Forget Black Friday

The seemingly never-ending chemtrail "conspiracy"

Why are we still talking about it?

Calum Lister Matheson, University of Pittsburgh

Everyone has looked up at the clouds and seen faces, animals, objects. Human brains are hardwired for this kind of whimsy. But some people – perhaps a surprising number – look to the sky and see government plots and wicked deeds written there. Conspiracy theorists say that contrails – long streaks of condensation left by aircraft – are actually chemtrails, clouds of chemical or biological agents dumped on the unsuspecting public for nefarious purposes. Different motives are ascribed, from weather control to mass poisoning.

The chemtrails theory has circulated since 1996, when conspiracy theorists misinterpreted a U.S. Air Force research paper about weather modification, a valid topic of research. Social media and conservative news outlets have since magnified the conspiracy theory. One recent study notes that X, formerly Twitter, is a particularly active node of this “broad online community of conspiracy.”

I’m a communications researcher who studies conspiracy theories. The thoroughly debunked chemtrails theory provides a textbook example of how conspiracy theories work.