Unions play key role in keeping direct care workers in the workforce

Unions help prevention worker turnover

By University of California, Los Angeles

Edited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Robert Egan

Unionization and working for a public employer are associated with significantly lower turnover among direct care workers (DCW), a group that provides daily care for older adults and those who are disabled and unable to care for themselves, UCLA-led research suggests. 

The findings on the role of DCW unionization, published in the peer-reviewed JAMA Network Open, apply to both for-profit and nonprofit organizations, suggesting that unionization can play a significant role in keeping DCWs in the workforce—and save the health care system $1.5 billion a year in turnover costs. It can also lead to improvements in care quality due to increased job satisfaction and lower stress.

Why direct care worker turnover matters

"Direct care workers provide essential daily care for millions of older adults and people with disabilities, but very high levels of worker turnover make it increasingly difficult for people to receive the consistent care they need," said study lead Dr. Geoffrey Gusoff, assistant professor of family medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Reducing turnover and retaining workers in the direct care workforce is essential for meeting the need for high-quality direct care services."

Environmental Council of RI seeks to protect Rhode Island's climate goals, expand conservation funding, decarbonize buildings, and save RIPTA

ECRI pushes green agenda

Steve Ahlquist 

The Environment Council of Rhode Island (ECRI), a coalition of more than 60 organizations “advocating for policies to protect and enhance the environment for all Rhode Islanders,” introduced its 2026 legislative priorities at a State House event on Tuesday. “These priorities were chosen by the membership of ECRI through a month-long democratic process and represent the diversity of the environmental community in Rhode Island,” said ECRI Executive Director Jordan Miller at the opening of the event.

Here’s the video: The Environment Council of RI 2026 Lobby Day; April 14, 2026

This year, ECRI announced four legislative priorities for the 2026 legislative session. As described by ECRI Vice President Tina Munter, “[T]hese priorities, in no particular order, include urging our legislators to oppose the rollback of state clean energy and energy efficiency programs that have been proposed in the governor’s FY2027 budget, the Green Bond plus crucial additional funding for conservation and open space measures, the Save RIPTA legislative package as put together by the Save RIPTA Coalition, and building decarbonization legislation, both building benchmarking and reporting and building performance standards.”

Accidentally true

Fortune Magazine confirms that WE pay Trump's tariffs, not foreign countries, despite Trump claims

Big win for Rhode Island voters

Trump DOJ loses again, now 0 for 5 on voter roll cases, as court rejects Rhode Island lawsuit

By Jim Saksa for the Democracy Docket

The Department of Justice (DOJ) lost again as a federal judge dismissed its lawsuit to force Rhode Island to provide unfettered access to its voter registration rolls, bringing the agency’s record among active cases to five defeats, zero wins and 25 cases still pending. 

In Donald Trump’s second term, the DOJ has demanded every state’s unredacted voter registration records — including sensitive private data like social security numbers and dates of birth — as part of the administration’s obsessive focus on immigration enforcement. While 17 Republican-led states have complied, the rest have refused, leading the DOJ to sue 29 states and Washington, D.C. for their voter rolls. 

Rhode Island is now the fifth state to secure a district court victory, joining California, Oregon, Michigan and Massachusetts.*

U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy, a Trump appointee, called the DOJ’s widespread voter roll demands a “fishing expedition.” The DOJ sought to use the 1960 Civil Rights Act (CRA) to order Rhode Island to turn over unredacted versions of its registration records, saying they were needed to ensure compliance with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

CDC Head Blocks Release of Findings Showing Strong COVID Vax Effectiveness

The report detailed how adults receiving COVID-19 vaccines saw hospitalization rates drop by 55 percent.

By Chris Walker

This article was originally published by Truthout

Acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Jay Bhattacharya, who also leads the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is reportedly delaying the publication of new findings within the health agency showcasing the strong effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines to prevent emergency room visits and hospitalizations. 

According to a report from The Washington Post, which cites two scientists with knowledge of Bhattacharya’s actions, the unpublished report examined adults who had been vaccinated between the months of September and December last year, and compared their health results to adults who didn’t get vaccinated. Among those who received vaccinations, ER and urgent care visits dropped by 50 percent, while hospitalizations overall saw a 55 percent decline. 

The report has cleared the CDC’s scientific-review process, but Bhattacharya is blocking its publication over supposed concerns over its methodology, the scientists said, demanding further scrutiny. However, the report used methods that are regularly utilized by the national health agency, and a report on flu vaccines, using the same methodology as this blocked report, was published just last week. 

The revelation of the delay of the report and the questionable rationale for delaying its release is raising concerns among members of the scientific community that the agency is shaping its policy due to the anti-vaccine attitudes of Bhattacharya and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Government May Be Spying on Your Phone

The rapid erosion of privacy

By Don Bell

...And everything else

Our smart phones reveal a lot about us.

In order to function, they connect with communications networks and geolocation services, creating detailed maps of our daily lives. If you knew how to read them, you’d know someone’s favorite coffee shop, the person they’re dating, where they go to school or church, and more.

Would you want the government to have this information at its fingertips? Most of us wouldn’t — but that’s what’s happening. FBI Director Kash Patel recently admitted that the agency is buying up our personal information — including movement and location data — without a warrant.

If this concerns you, it should. It’s a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. And it’s one reason why privacy and civil liberties advocates have been demanding Congress close a loophole that essentially allows the government to purchase our data without a warrant.

The Fourth Amendment exists to prevent the government from conducting unreasonable searches and seizures. So normally, if law enforcement officers want to access a person’s cell phone location data in the United States, they need a warrant. However, because Congress hasn’t updated laws to address technological advancements, government agencies can instead pay third party data brokers to access this data for them — no warrant needed.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing in the law that explicitly outlaws buying information from third parties. This loophole is the equivalent of the police handing your landlord an envelope of cash in order to enter your apartment without a warrant, with the police arguing that they didn’t technically break and enter.

He is Seriously, Frighteningly, Utterly, and Completely Losing His Mind

We are in great danger

Robert Reich

It’s a catastrophe on the way to becoming a cataclysm.

Trump is rapidly going stark-raving mad. He’s a clear and present danger to the United States and the world.

He lashed out at The New York Times after its chief White House correspondent questioned his mental health and stability and pointed to his “erratic behavior and extreme comments.”

“HAVE THEY NO SHAME? HAVE THEY NO SENSE OF DECENCY?” Trump posted in CAPITAL LETTERS about the Times, inadvertently echoing the famous words of Joseph Welch when standing up to Joseph McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy hearings of 1954. Trump went on to take issue with the Times’s coverage of his war in Iran rather than his mental state, as if to prove the Times’s point.

He keeps saying he’s “won” the war with Iran, although he’s never said what “winning” means. At one moment his goal is to free Iran’s people. At another, it’s to end Iran’s capacity to produce a nuclear weapon. At another, to destroy Iran’s missiles. At another, to achieve “regime change.” At another, to open the Strait of Hormuz (which was open before Trump started his war). At another, he says he’ll know the U.S. military operation in Iran is over when he feels it "[in] my bones.”

He can’t even stay on the same subject for more than a few minutes. In the middle of a high-level Cabinet meeting about the war, he spends five minutes talking about his preference for Sharpie pens. He interrupts another Iran war update to praise the White House drapes.

He threatens that if Iran doesn’t reopen the strait, “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Then he says America doesn’t need the strait reopened. Then he says: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell - JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah. President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

He calls the Pope “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” because the Pope wants peace. He posts an AI-generated picture of himself as Jesus, then says he was only depicting himself as a physician.

He won’t give up on his illegal and dangerous (for the economy) criminal investigation of Fed Chief Jerome Powell, claiming it’s not just about Powell’s renovations at the Fed but also a “probe on incompetence,” adding he’ll fire Powell if he doesn’t resign after his term as chair ends.

He claims that the United States “needs” Greenland. He confuses Greenland with Iceland. He says whales are being killed by windmills. He claims that he won all 50 states in 2020. That he defeated Barack Obama in 2016. He says the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff should be executed. He goes on an eight-minute ramble about poisonous snakes in Peru. He boasts of ending a fictional war between Cambodia and Armenia.

After Robert Mueller’s death, he says, “Good, I’m glad he’s dead.” He blames the murders of Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle on “the anger [Rob Reiner] caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.” After Joe Biden is diagnosed with an aggressive form of Stage 4 prostate cancer, Trump says, “I’m surprised that the public wasn’t notified a long time ago because to get to Stage 9, that’s a long time” (there is no Stage 9 cancer).

He’s been losing it for a while now, but in the last few months it’s become far worse.

United States of Anxiety

Pick up Charlestown trash on Saturday

Want help with your garden?

URI Master Gardeners awaiting your call (or email)

Kristen Curry

The URI Gardening & Environmental Hotline is now open and in full operation through Nov. 1. (URI Photos / Cooperative Extension)

Have a garden quandary or need some advice before you start planting your 2026 garden? Ready to celebrate spring but don’t know where to start?

The University of Rhode Island Gardening & Environmental Hotline is now open and in full operation through Nov. 1.

Southern New Englanders are welcome to send an email and photos to the University’s Master Gardener volunteer educators or call for science based-answers to their gardening and environmental questions. In-person visits are also available by appointment at URI’s Mallon Outreach Center on the Kingston Campus. Just call 401-874-4836 or email gardener@uri.edu.

Food Companies Backslide on Promises to Reduce Pesticides

Raise your hand if you are surprised

By Lisa Held 

Article Summary

• In an annual report, As You Sow awarded lower scores to 10 out of 17 major food companies on their approach to mitigating pesticide risks.
• Companies are making little progress in reducing the volume of pesticides used in the U.S. food system, despite the increase in public awareness.
• An increase in consumer pressure could push companies to improve; many companies that scored poorly in the report are also seeing their stock prices decrease.

In 2019, food giant General Mills debuted a three-point strategy to reduce synthetic pesticide use within its supply chains. The plan was to implement regenerative agriculture practices on 1 million acres of farmland by 2030, increase the use of integrated pest management (IPM) on farms, and expand organic acreage.

More than six years later, the webpage that outlined that plan redirects visitors to a page on regenerative agriculture, where the word “pesticide” does not appear.

“They are no longer aligning their regenerative agriculture program with pesticide reduction at all, which is obviously concerning, because what the soil science points to is that regenerative without significant pesticide reduction is not regenerating soil health,” said Cailin Dendas, the senior coordinator of As You Sow’s Environmental Health Program.

Dendas is the author of a new report that found General Mills is not alone: It’s one of several food companies moving away from earlier promises to reduce pesticide use.

Thanks to Trump’s Iran War, Big Oil Raking in $30 Million Per Hour in Windfall Profits

Making Trump's friends richer

Brad Reed

Donald Trump’s unprovoked war of choice in Iran has been a goldmine for the fossil fuels industry, which is earning massive windfall profits thanks to the rise in the price of petroleum.

An analysis published by The Guardian estimated that the 100 biggest oil and gas companies have collectively raked in an extra $30 million per hour since Trump launched his war with Iran without any congressional authorization in late February.

In just the first month of the conflict, The Guardian reported, Big Oil made $23 billion in windfall profits, and the industry is projected to haul in an additional $234 billion in windfall profits by the end of the year if the price of oil stays in the $100 range.

The top beneficiaries of the Iran conflict are Saudi Aramco, which is projected to earn $25.5 billion in windfall profits by the end of the year; Kuwait Petroleum Corp., which is projected to earn $12.1 billion; and ExxonMobil, which is projected to earn $11 billion.

Five top psychiatric specialists warn Congress about Trump’s instability and danger

They cite the “Dark Triad” of personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. 

Jeffrey D. Sach, sBandy X. Lee, James Gilligan, Prudence L. Gourguechon and James R. Merikangas in Common Dreams

Editor’s note: The following letter was sent to the bipartisan leadership of Congress on Monday, April 13, 2026 in regard to recent rhetoric and actions taken by US President Donald J. Trump.

Senator John Thune
Senate Majority Leader, US Senate

Senator Charles E. Schumer
Senate Minority Leader, US Senate

Representative Mike Johnson
Speaker of the House, US House of Representatives

Representative Hakeem Jeffries
House Minority Leader, US House of Representatives

Dear Senate Majority Leader Thune, Senate Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, and House Minority Leader Jeffries:

We write to you today with a sense of urgency that we do not use lightly. The behavior and rhetoric of President Donald Trump have crossed a threshold that demands the immediate and bipartisan attention of Congress. This is not a partisan assessment. It is a judgment grounded in observable fact, consistent professional assessment, and the constitutional responsibilities that your offices carry.

President Trump exhibits what forensic mental health experts have, across dozens of independent assessments, identified as the “Dark Triad” of personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Rather than constituting a clinical diagnosis, this trait-based assessment is grounded in behavioral observation and is particularly useful for assessing the level of danger an individual poses in a political leadership position. We do not offer this as a clinical verdict. We offer it as the considered judgment of a substantial body of professional opinion, based on well-researched evidence that is consistent, accumulating, and impossible to dismiss.

What makes this more than an academic matter is what predictably happens when this personality structure collides with immovable obstacles. The clinical literature is clear: individuals with Dark Triad profiles, when confronted with situations they cannot control or escape, do not recalibrate. They escalate. The psychological imperative to relieve narcissistic collapse overrides strategic calculation, concern for consequences, and ordinary self-restraint. Rage surges to domination. Impulsivity overrides caution. The urgent need to extinguish psychological pain eclipses every other consideration.

We are watching this dynamic unfold in real time.

The President’s recent public communications have been, by any normal standard of political discourse, alarming. His posts demanding that Iran “open the fuckin’ strait, you crazy bastards” and his threat to bomb Iran “back to the stone ages,” adding that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” are not the rhetoric of calculated geopolitical pressure. They are the expressions of a man in profound psychological distress who is reaching for the most extreme retaliatory threats available to him. That these statements were addressed to an adversary in the context of an active military confrontation makes them not merely shocking but profoundly dangerous.

President Trump has now ordered a US naval blockade of Iran — an action that has sent world oil prices soaring and placed the United States in direct opposition to the international community. His ongoing actions carry the potential to trigger a global economic catastrophe, draw in regional and great powers, and ignite a wider conflict with consequences that no one can bound. These orders are being issued without adequate deliberation, without congressional authorization, and in a context in which the President’s judgment is, by every visible measure, severely compromised.

We urge three specific actions.

Trump does it again. Can't help himself.