How much is too much?

Excess coffee: A bitter brew for brain health

University of South Australia

It's a favorite first-order for the day, but while a quick coffee may perk us up, new research from the University of South Australia shows that too much could be dragging us down, especially when it comes to brain health.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers have found that high coffee consumption is associated with smaller total brain volumes and an increased risk of dementia.

Conducted at UniSA's Australian Centre for Precision Health at SAHMRI and a team of international researchers*, the study assessed the effects of coffee on the brain among 17,702 UK Biobank participants (aged 37-73), finding that those who drank more than six cups of coffee a day had a 53 per cent increased risk of dementia.

I was vaccinated and got Delta.

If you live in Rhode Island, what you should know…

By Greg Brailsford

After avoiding COVID-19 infection for the better part of a year and a half, I recently got infected with the Delta variant on a trip to Ohio, despite having gotten the J&J vaccine in April. Our family visited a popular amusement park, where 95% of our activities were outside. 

We never shared an elevator and cannot recall interacting with anyone inside of 6 feet while indoors for any length of time. So, believe the experts when they say that the Delta variant is insanely contagious. The bottom line is my kids and I both caught it during the trip, and brought it back to RI unbeknownst to us.

We returned back from the trip on a Saturday. After an exhausting trip and a long drive, we stayed in for a few days and did not go anywhere. I felt fine on Sunday, Monday, and all day Tuesday. On Tuesday night before I went to bed I had a strange chill come over me, but nothing else. At 4am the next morning, 

I awoke with congestion and a headache. I checked my temperature and it was 99.6° – a definite fever for me. I was sure I had COVID-19 – what else could it be? My wife was not as sure yet (because she had no symptoms and we had been in the same places) and my kids had no symptoms. Nonetheless I planned to schedule a COVID test for that morning.

Scheduling a test in RI is more of an adventure than it needs to be. We have all heard that CVS and Walgreens are doing testing. Except, they aren’t. Visiting the CVS COVID test scheduling website proved fruitless, as there were no appoints available at any CVS within a 25 mile radius going two weeks out. 

What if you're cruising on a plague ship?

Unclear laws had deadly consequences when ports turned cruise ships away during pandemic

Todd McLeish

When cruise ships around the globe were refused entry into dozens of ports in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ports got away with it because applicable international laws are unclear and contain loopholes that allowed the ports to avoid responsibility. 

The unusual circumstances got University of Rhode Island ocean governance expert Elizabeth Mendenhall thinking about how to improve the situation in the future by clarifying international maritime laws and customs.

“There are no clear responsibilities for responding to a pandemic distress situation,” said Mendenhall, URI assistant professor of marine affairs. “It’s such a novel situation that we’re not sure who’s supposed to do what. And as a result, the response was inefficient and it might have caused more people to die or at least caused a delay in the provision of care.”

Mendenhall and colleague Andrew Tirrell of the University of San Diego analyzed all of the data and applicable laws they could find and published an article this month in the journal Ocean Development & International Law that outlined the problem and proposed solutions to better address the situation in the future.

They found 55 cruise ships that were turned away from ports in March, April and May 2020, and not all of them had COVID outbreaks aboard.

“It’s hard to blame the ports because they were just trying to protect their local population,” Mendenhall said. “Just like in shutting down air travel at the beginning of the pandemic, this was one more way to control their borders. But it left many people in a dangerous situation, because we know that if you get COVID, you’re better off in a hospital than in a cruise ship’s medical facility.”

Part of the problem, according to Mendenhall and Tirrell, is the concept of “flags of convenience,” in which ship owners fly the flag of a nation that theoretically takes responsibility for enforcing its laws on the ship. But most ship owners select a nation that has minimal environmental, labor and safety regulations, and most flag countries accept no responsibility for assisting ships at sea that are in need.

Trumplicans hate families

The Anti-Family Party

By Robert Reich

Last Thursday, 39 million American parents began receiving a monthly child allowance ($300 per child under 6, and $250 per child from 6 through 17). It’s the biggest helping hand to American families in more than 85 years.

They need it. Even before the pandemic, child poverty had reached post-war records. Even non-poor families were in trouble, burdened with deepening debt and missed payments. 

Most were living paycheck to paycheck – so if they lost a job, they and their kids could be plunged into poverty. It’s estimated that the new monthly child allowance will cut child poverty by more than half.

But every single Republican in both the House and Senate voted against the measure.

After I posted a tweet reminding people of this indisputable fact, Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah responded Friday with a perfectly bizarre tweet: “If you’re one of the 39 million households receiving their first Child Tax Credit payment today, don’t forget that every single Democrat voted against making it larger.”

Hello? Did we just go through the funhouse mirror?

Tucker sez

For more cartoons by Tom Tomorrow, CLICK HERE.

 

Facts are facts

 

Welcome to the Red Zone! RI COVID rates pushes past 100 per 100K

After a month of fast and steady rise, what will McKee do?

By Will Collette

Well, it didn't take us very long to reach the worst level of COVID transmission. On Friday, we were at 85+ cases per 100,000 of population and I was sure we would reach 100,000 when the Health Department reported the weekend numbers. 

As recent as the first week of June, our rate was a low 10+ per 100,000.

But sure enough, we jumped almost 15 points over the weekend to 103.4 and moved from "substantial" to "high" transmission levels, the highest level in the rating system.

If accidental Gov. Dan McKee had the stones for it, he would execute the Emergency Powers he retained for himself (over anti-vaxxer Charlestown Rep. Blake "Flip" Filippi's strenuous objections) and reinstitute a mask mandate for all, as well as a vaccine mandate for all Rhode Island public employees.

McKee should also reinstate travel restrictions and even bans on visitors from states with infection rates even worse off than us. Especially Florida where there is a lively summer influx of thousands of "fake Floridians." 

Those are Rhode Islanders who have decided to set up residency in Florida to avoid state tax but actually still live here.

Normally, the Rhode Island Health Department updates its COVID stats daily at 2 PM, but not today when they were two hours late releasing the bad news. I suspect they probably held the numbers until they gave McKee's office a head's up and maybe even waited to get his go-ahead. Note that this is just my hunch.

Note that our daily rate for COVID testing is down close to nothing. Without vigorous testing, we just don't know how bad it really is. The asymptomatic or vaccinated people with mild break-through symptoms probably aren't seeking out tests.

The bottom line is that the unvaccinated must get vaccinated and we all need to mask up again. This is a public health emergency AGAIN and all of us, from Dan McKee on down need to start acting like it.

Or we could all move to Florida:

Higher Levels of Omega-3 in the Blood Increase Life Expectancy by Almost Five Years

Puts back what smoking takes away

By IMIM (HOSPITAL DEL MAR MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE) JULY 26, 2021

Levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood are as good a predictor of mortality from any cause as smoking, according to a study involving the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), in collaboration with The Fatty Acid Research Institute in the United States and several universities in the United States and Canada.

The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, used data from a long-term study group, the Framingham Offspring Cohort, which has been monitoring residents of this Massachusetts town, in the United States, since 1971.

Researchers have found that omega-3 levels in blood erythrocytes (the so-called red blood cells) are very good mortality risk predictors. The study concludes that “Having higher levels of these acids in the blood, as a result of regularly including oily fish in the diet, increases life expectancy by almost five years,” as Dr. Aleix Sala-Vila, a postdoctoral researcher in the IMIM’s Cardiovascular Risk and Nutrition Research Group and author of the study, points out.

In contrast, “Being a regular smoker takes 4.7 years off your life expectancy, the same as you gain if you have high levels of omega-3 acids in your blood,” he adds.

State retirement fund sues Facebook, Zuckerberg over misconduct that cost shareholders at least $5 billion in fines

Facebook customer personal data was used to promote Trump’s campaign

General Treasurer Seth Magaziner announced that this month, the Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island filed a lawsuit against certain officers, including co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, and members of the board of directors of Facebook (NYSE: FB) alleging breaches of fiduciary duties pertaining to the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data-privacy scandal.   

“As Treasurer, my job is to stand up for the financial wellbeing of all Rhode Islanders, including the teachers, first responders and other community servants who depend on the Rhode Island pension fund for their retirement security,” said General Treasurer Seth Magaziner.

 "When Facebook leaders improperly allowed user data to fall into the hands of bad actors trying to influence  elections in support of Donald Trump and others, they not only put our democratic system of government at risk, they also put shareholder capital at risk.”  

In the years leading up to the 2016 Presidential election, Facebook user data was obtained by Cambridge Analytica without users’ consent and then used to promote the campaigns of Donald Trump for President, Ted Cruz for Senate, and the pro-Brexit movement.

Facebook agreed to pay a $5 billion fine to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for this incident and other related issues; by far the largest fine ever assessed by the FTC.

The Real, Untold Story of Roth IRAs

Rich people's rip-off 

By Gerald Scorse, Progressive Charlestown Guest Columnist 

You can even get this shirt on Amazon. Wonder if it was Jeff Bezos' idea

The internet lit up when ProPublica broke the news about venture capitalist Peter Thiel and his “gargantuan tax-exempt piggy bank,” a Roth retirement account worth an obscene $5 billion. Nobody said boo, though, about the story’s opening words: “Roth IRAs were intended to help average working Americans…” 

Well, boo and double-boo (the second for calling Roths “a humdrum retirement vehicle”). The idea that Roths were created for “average working Americans” is 100 percent fantasy and 110 percent naïve. 

Roths in fact are a huge tax handout to the well-off. The accounts didn’t even exist until 1998, almost a quarter-century after Congress first created Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).  

A second, instantly popular retirement option, 401(k) accounts, appeared in 1981. Contributions to regular IRAs and 401(k)s are tax-free. Even more important, taxes on capital gains are deferred until withdrawals—so compounding works its magic for decades. Within two years of their debut, “nearly half of all big companies were offering 401(k)s or were considering it.”  

So, putting it simply, “average working Americans” never had the slightest need for Roth IRAs. The accounts were always intended for the affluent, for people with no money worries. The retirement accounts of average Americans may be humdrum, but Roths are a golden exception. 

The accounts do have a small disadvantage, but for Roth holders it doesn’t really matter: there’s no tax deduction for contributions. On the back end, it’s made up for in spades with tax breaks that apply only to them. 

The growth in the accounts is forever tax-free. All those capital gains, over all those years, go into their pockets (with not a penny going to the Treasury). Even more, there are no required minimum distributions for original owners and spouses who are sole heirs. 

Roth rules are the exact opposites of those for all other retirement accounts. For millions of average working Americans with regular IRAs and 401(k)s, distributions are required and capital gains are taxed (at ordinary income rates, not the lower capital gains rate.) 

The payback rules were laid down by Congress to gradually recoup the tax revenues forgiven over the decades. The rules are nothing but fair. For Roths and Roths alone, no money ever has to be withdrawn—and when it is, it comes out tax-free. 

While various rules initially limited the number of Roth accounts, President George W. Bush signed two bills that dramatically increased their use. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 allowed employers, starting in 2006, to offer Roth 401(k) plans as well as standard 401(k)s. 

Later—in a blatant pitch to the rich—his Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act removed the $100,000 gross income limit for Roth conversions. Starting in 2010, even the richest of the rich could switch into permanently tax-free Roths. 

Talk about not fair!

 

Conundrum

 

South Kingstown wind power tech company gets federal funding

RI Delegation Announces $1.15 Million Grant for Rhode Island Wind Energy Company

U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline today announced that Arctura Inc. in South Kingstown will be receiving a $1.15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop an innovative wind turbine blade coating to reduce damage caused by lightning. 

Lightning damage to wind turbines is one of the largest expenses for wind farm operators. An innovative blade coating is being developed in this project to reduce blade damage caused by lightning that can be applied to both existing and future turbines. 

Arctura Inc. was one of 110 small businesses selected by the DOE in recognition of their work on advanced scientific tools and clean, secure energy for the American people in support of the Biden-Harris Administration’s clean energy goals. 

“Small businesses are the backbone of American communities, representing some of our best opportunities to make the clean energy innovations our country needs to meet President Biden’s goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. 

“These funding awards will help small businesses take their work to the next level, expand their operations and create new jobs, and be part of the fight against the existential crisis of our time – climate change.” 

“This is an example of federal dollars helping a local small business do important work that could reduce the cost of wind energy by improving the resilience and effectiveness of wind turbines,” said Senator Reed. “I will continue working to deliver federal funds to accelerate research into new technologies that could power our clean energy future and help grow jobs and opportunities in Rhode Island.” 

“Clean energy leadership requires big investments in emerging technology,” said Senator Whitehouse. “I’m thrilled to see this federal funding headed to an innovative Rhode Island company.  This award will bolster the Ocean State’s leadership on offshore wind, and help us to develop an advanced and resilient energy grid primed for growth.”  

“Now is the time to invest in sustainable energy, so that we can protect our environment and deliver affordable, clean power to Rhode Island homes and businesses for generations to come,” said Representative Jim Langevin. “This federal funding will help prevent costly lightning damage to wind turbines, reducing downtime and enabling the Ocean State to continue leading the way on innovative wind energy solutions.” 

“Rhode Island is a leader in the clean energy industry,” said Representative David Cicilline. “This federal grant will allow Rhode Island and it’s small businesses to be the gold standard when it comes to reaching our country’s clean energy goals.”

How to avoid food-borne illness

If you must eat, follow these rules

Ruth S. MacDonald, Iowa State University

After the meal, putting food away quickly is key to keeping it
free from pathogens. Getty Images / Thomas Barwick

Summer means cookouts, picnics and backyard barbecues. But a generous spread of food eaten outside raises some serious health questions. 

Nobody wants food poisoning – or to make their guests sick. But how do you know when you’ve kept the potato salad or fruit medley out too long?

As a professor and chair of the Food Science and Human Nutrition program at Iowa State University, I’ll answer those questions by starting with the basics of food safety.

Two general classes of food-related microorganisms exist. Pathogenic organisms make you sick. Other types of organisms make food look, smell and taste bad – in other words, they make food spoil.

It’s usually pretty easy to tell if spoilage microorganisms have invaded your food. Molds and fuzzy growth appear on solid foods. Liquids look cloudy or clumpy and often smell bad. Eating spoiled foods is never a good idea, and you’re smart to err on the side of caution. When in doubt, throw it out.

Polling again fails to match up with actual voting

Election polls in 2020 produced ‘error of unusual magnitude’ but they don't know why

W. Joseph Campbell, American University School of Communication

A voter exits a polling location on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020
in Fort Worth, Texas. Tom Pennington/Getty Images

More than eight months after the acute polling embarrassment in the 2020 U.S. elections – that produced the sharpest discrepancy between the polls and popular vote outcome since 1980 – survey experts examining what went wrong say they have no definitive answers about why polls erred as markedly as they did.

That inconclusive finding reported by a polling industry task force will do little to assuage popular skepticism about election polls which, in one way or another, have misfired in all U.S. presidential races but one since 1996.

And if the source of the 2020 polling error cannot be pinpointed, then addressing and correcting it obviously becomes daunting.

Moreover, as I discussed in my book “Lost in a Gallup,” polling failures in presidential elections since 1936 rarely have been repetitive. Just as no two elections are alike, no two polling failures are quite the same.

Over the years, pollsters have anticipated tight presidential elections when landslides have occurred. They have signaled the wrong winner in closer elections. The estimates of venerable pollsters have been singularly in error. Wayward exit polls have thrown Election Day into confusion by identifying the losing candidate as the likely winner. Off-target state polls have confounded expected national outcomes, which essentially was the story in 2016.