For more cartoons from Ted Rall, CLICK HEREFriday, May 27, 2016
Getting rid of “hard-to-dispose-of” wastes could get a little easier
Senate passes Sosnowski’s Household Hazardous Waste Management Act
The Rhode Island Senate passed legislation sponsored by Sen. V. Susan
Sosnowski (D-Dist. 37, New Shoreham, South Kingstown) that would create a
system for disposal of hazardous household materials.
The bill (2016-S
2526A) would establish
programs to aid in the monitoring, tracking, reuse, recycling, and proper
disposal of hard-to- dispose materials.
“Rhode Islanders
are increasingly using hard-to-dispose hazardous materials,” said Senator
Sosnowski, chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Agriculture Committee.
“The
proliferation and accumulation of these materials is a public health hazard and
seriously impedes our efforts to maintain a healthy and clean environment. This
legislation will bring about the effective control, recovery, and recycling of
hard-to-dispose material.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: this legislation, while meritorious, does NOT address the growing problem of electronic waste. Charlestown, like many other municipalities, no longer provides a drop off for e-waste, much of which is loaded with potentially hazardous materials.
EDITOR'S NOTE: this legislation, while meritorious, does NOT address the growing problem of electronic waste. Charlestown, like many other municipalities, no longer provides a drop off for e-waste, much of which is loaded with potentially hazardous materials.
Can legumes solve environmental issues?
Frontiers
It's a win-win situation for the environment and the economy when it comes to introducing legumes into agricultural systems, says new research published in Frontiers in Plant Science, carried out by an international team of scientists as part of the European Union project, Legume Futures.
Currently Europe's crop production is highly specialized in only
a small number of plant species, to the detriment of the environment. Cereal
crops dominate, meaning Europe imports over 70% of its protein feed stocks to
support the meat industry.
"The introduction of legumes such as clovers, lupins,
lucerne and faba beans can increase the sustainability of agriculture and the
supply of protein in Europe," stated Moritz Reckling of the Leibniz Centre
for Agriculture Research (ZALF) in Germany and lead author of this study.
Legumes are protein-rich and would provide relief for the deficit; they also
increase the amount of nitrogen available to plants through biological nitrogen
fixation, reducing the need for fertilisers.
Tobin “zombie youth” theory challenged
By Alexander Sharp in
Rhode Island’s Future
Rev. Alexander Sharp, of Clergy for a New
Drug Policy, wrote this open letter to Bishop Thomas
Tobin, the head of the Catholic Church in Rhode Island who recently
asked state legislators in a blog post not
to make marijuana legal.
Dear Bishop Tobin,
On May 10, you asserted in a public commentary that all drug use
is sinful and immoral. You urged state legislators to reject the legalization
of marijuana. As a member of the Protestant clergy, I reach a very different
conclusion.
We read the same Bible, worship the same God, and seek to follow
the teachings of Jesus. What, then, explains where we differ, and why? You
acknowledge that a case, which you do not refute, can be made for the
recreational use of alcohol. Marijuana is far less dangerous than alcohol, yet
you do not attempt to justify this double standard.
You then quote the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The use of
drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life.” You cite the words
of Pope Francis two years ago: “Drug addiction is an evil, and with evil there
can be no yielding or compromise.”
The reality is that we live in a drug-using society. Most of us
consume some kind of drug on a regular basis: alcohol, caffeine, tobacco,
prescription drugs, or marijuana. The question that challenges us both, then,
is how to respond to the possibility that drug use can become addictive.
Sadly, your understanding of addiction is incomplete and
outdated.
Thursday, May 26, 2016
VOTE YES!
Ignore
the stupid rumor
By
Will Collette
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| Photo by Will Collette |
There
is a stupid and malicious rumor going around that somehow I have “flipped” and
no longer support the citizen referendum for Charlestown to purchase the
General Stanton Inn.
That
rumor is false.
Totally
false.
As if the display ads (top left and right) saying “Vote Yes!” on the front page of Progressive Charlestown weren’t enough, we have a VOTE YES yard sign on our Route One frontage. Cathy and I have also donated to the Friends of the General Stanton Inn.
As if the display ads (top left and right) saying “Vote Yes!” on the front page of Progressive Charlestown weren’t enough, we have a VOTE YES yard sign on our Route One frontage. Cathy and I have also donated to the Friends of the General Stanton Inn.
I
was in favor of the town’s purchase of the General Stanton Inn before the
petition even started to put the question on the ballot.
When
the Charlestown Town Council killed
the last and final offer from a potential buyer for Inn by rejecting a
necessary zoning change, I
concluded that the only sure way to save Charlestown’s iconic heart was for the
citizens of the town to own it.
I
supported the citizens’ referendum campaign from before the very beginning. Always
have. Still do.
More trout in local ponds
DEM adds
6,000 for Memorial Day weekend
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM)
is stocking 20 ponds and rivers across Rhode Island with some 6,000 trout in
advance of Memorial Day weekend - a popular time for recreational fishing.As part of a larger network of recreational opportunities in the state, fishing plays an important role in connecting people with nature, promoting health, attracting tourism, and supporting a treasured tradition for Rhode Island families.
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, there are
approximately 175,000 recreational anglers (age 16+) in Rhode Island. And
recreational fishing contributes more than $130 million to the economy each
year.
Water conditions and temperatures will determine which locations are stocked. For a list of stocked waters, contact DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife at 789-7481.
Water conditions and temperatures will determine which locations are stocked. For a list of stocked waters, contact DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife at 789-7481.
Charlestown Historical Society opens this weekend
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Calamari for everyone!
Squids
on the rise as oceans change
Unlike the declining populations of many fish species, the number of cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish and squid) has increased in the world’s oceans over the past 60 years, a University of Adelaide study has found.
The international team, led by researchers from the University’s Environment Institute, compiled a global database of cephalopod catch rates to investigate long-term trends in abundance, published in Cell Press journal Current Biology.
“Our analyses showed that cephalopod abundance has increased since the 1950s, a result that was remarkably consistent across three distinct groups,” says lead author Dr Zoë Doubleday, Research Fellow in the Environment Institute and School of Biological Sciences.
AIR QUALITY ALERT, first of the season, EXTENDED
AIR QUALITY ALERT EXTENDED, worse than yesterday
Charlestown continues to be in the "Red Zone" for high tree pollen
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) is predicting that air quality will reach unhealthy levels statewide during the afternoon and late into the evening hours on Thursday, May 26.
Continued warm weather and favorable meteorological conditions will result in unhealthy air quality, which could last possibly into Friday. The poor air quality will be due to elevated ground level ozone concentrations.
Additionally, fine particles are expected to reach moderate levels. Ozone is a major component of smog and is formed by the photochemical reaction of pollutants emitted by motor vehicles, industry and other sources in the presence of elevated temperatures and sunlight.
Rhode Island residents can help reduce air pollutant emissions. Limit car travel and the use of small engines, lawn motors and charcoal lighter fuels. Travel by bus or carpool whenever possible, particularly during high ozone periods.
From Pollen.com
Trump’s mortgage bankster business
How Trump betrayed America
Donald Trump’s mortgage company was
part of the carnival of greed that preyed on the American people by providing
subprime mortgages to unqualified borrowers, a practice which led to the
financial collapse in 2008 and the Great Recession that followed.
Hillary
Clinton’s presidential campaign is making a major push to bring up Trump and his role in the
business that led to billions in bailout costs for the American taxpayer.
Trump
wasn’t just on the outside of the scheme. His company was right in the middle
of it.
Clinton’s
allies highlight that Trump Mortgage approved subprime mortgages to
unqualified borrowers. The mortgages were one of the key financial instruments
linked to the crash.
Trump
even handed out advice on how to profit from a crash like the one that would
eventually occur and consume millions of jobs in America and around the world.
In his book, How to Build a
Fortune, Trump said, “If there is a bubble burst, as they call it, you
know you can make a lot of money.”
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
VIDEO: Rooting for people's misery
To see this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1Mrfu4yE-w
New at the Charlestown Gallery
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