Whitehouse leads the charge

Watch Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse call out Clarence Thomas' lack of ethics

Walter Einenkel for Daily Kos

Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee spent Tuesday developing their argument for a bill that would establish an ethics code for the Supreme Court, since the justices have proved unwilling to police themselves. 

Conservatives (and wishy washy centrists) are trying to argue that Congress would be overstepping its powers by prescribing a way for justices to be held accountable for ethical violations.

This all comes in the wake of revelation after revelation surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas and his very lucrative relationship with billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow. Thomas’ seeming lack of ethics has been exposed alongside the Supreme Court’s inability to implement any ethical standards.

One of the bills proposed by Democratic lawmakers seeks to create a “process for investigating misconduct at the Supreme Court, strengthen recusal standards for judges and disclosure rules for special interests trying to influence the courts, improve disclosure of travel and hospitality for judges, and mandate the creation of a binding code of ethics.” 

Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is one of the bill’s authors and gave a beautifully synthesized breakdown of how absurd Thomas’ position is.

Whitehouse argued in support of his proposed legislation to create a code of ethics for the court, while highlighting more than a decade of failed oversight where Clarence Thomas is concerned. 

GOP way to beat foreign competition

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Trump by the numbers

 

WHO Declares Covid-19 Global Health Emergency Officially Over

Continuing to stay current on COVID vaccinations still the best way to prevent COVID return

JESSICA CORBETT for Common Dreams

The World Health Organization chief announced Friday that it is "with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency."

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had declared the emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, when there were fewer than 100 reported cases outside of China.

"In the three years since then, Covid-19 has turned our world upside down," Tedros noted Friday. "Almost 7 million deaths have been reported to WHO, but we know the toll is several times higher—at least 20 million."

"But Covid-19 has been so much more than a health crisis," he continued. "It has caused severe economic upheaval, erasing trillions from GDP, disrupting travel and trade, shuttering businesses, and plunging millions into poverty."

Stressing that the move does not mean the virus "is over as a global health threat," Tedros said that "it is time for countries to transition from emergency mode to managing Covid-19 alongside other infectious diseases."

The public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) "is a tool created within the International Health Regulations to help the WHO respond to disease events with the potential for global spread," STATexplained.

As the news outlet reported:

When a PHEIC is in place, the WHO director-general can make special recommendations, mainly aimed at discouraging countries from closing borders or restricting trade—actions that could deter countries from alerting the WHO if they are dealing with dangerous disease outbreaks.

Didier Houssin, the chair of the emergency committee, said the decision to recommend an end to the PHEIC was in part due to the belief that the tool was not adapted to disease events that are sub-acute or chronic. 

Houssin acknowledged that there remains a risk that a more pathogenic variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus may emerge, and that a new PHEIC might need to be declared. The WHO's declaration comes days before the U.S. public health emergency will expire, on May 11.

The Biden administration announced Monday that when the U.S. emergency ends next week, so will Covid-19 vaccine requirements for federal employees and contractors as well as international air travelers—and agencies will start the process to cancel such mandates for Head Start educators, employees of some healthcare facilities, and certain noncitizens at land borders.

"While vaccination remains one of the most important tools in advancing the health and safety of employees and promoting the efficiency of workplaces," the White House said, "we are now in a different phase of our response when these measures are no longer necessary."

The Secret Power of Japanese Cuisine

Fighting Liver Fibrosis

By OSAKA METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY

Researchers analyzed the relationship between meals rated by the 12-component modified Japanese Diet Index (mJDI12), muscle mass, and liver fibrosis progression in 136 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) attending the Osaka Metropolitan University Hospital.

Japanese cuisine has gained worldwide popularity and has been recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. 

The “12-component modified Japanese Diet Index (mJDI12)” is a scoring system that evaluates adherence to the traditional Japanese diet pattern, including 12 food and food groups: rice, miso soup, pickles, soy products, green and yellow vegetables, fruits, seafood, mushrooms, seaweed, green tea, coffee, and beef and pork. 

The scores range from 0 to 12, with higher scores reflecting a diet that closely aligns with the Japanese dietary pattern.

A team of researchers, headed by Dr. Hideki Fujii M.D. and Associate Professor Yoshinari Matsumoto at Osaka Metropolitan University, conducted a study examining the connection between mJDI12-rated meals, muscle mass, and the progression of liver fibrosis in 136 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who were receiving treatment at Osaka Metropolitan University Hospital.

Is the pandemic really over?

With the lack of data and end of federal Emergency Declaration Expires, we don't know- and lack the tools to find out

Sam Whitehead 

Joel Wakefield isn’t just an armchair epidemiologist. His interest in tracking the spread of covid is personal.

The 58-year-old lawyer who lives in Phoenix has an immunodeficiency disease that increases his risk of severe outcomes from covid-19 and other infections. He has spent lots of time since 2020 checking state, federal, and private sector covid trackers for data to inform his daily decisions.

“I’m assessing ‘When am I going to see my grandkids? When am I going to let my own kids come into my house?’” he said.

Many Americans have moved on from the pandemic, but for the millions who are immunocompromised or otherwise more vulnerable to covid, reliable data remains important in assessing safety.

“I don’t have that luxury to completely shrug it off,” Wakefield said.

The federal government’s public health emergency that’s been in effect since January 2020 expires May 11. The emergency declaration allowed for sweeping changes in the U.S. health care system, like requiring state and local health departments, hospitals, and commercial labs to regularly share data with federal officials.

But some shared data requirements will come to an end and the federal government will lose access to key metrics as a skeptical Congress seems unlikely to grant agencies additional powers. And private projects, like those from The New York Times and Johns Hopkins University, which made covid data understandable and useful for everyday people, stopped collecting data in March.

Public health legal scholars, data experts, former and current federal officials, and patients at high risk of severe covid outcomes worry the scaling back of data access could make it harder to control covid.

Clarence Thomas Had a Child in Private School

Harlan Crow Paid the Tuition.

by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski for ProPublica

By Marc Murphy

In 2008, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas decided to send his teenage grandnephew to Hidden Lake Academy, a private boarding school in the foothills of northern Georgia. The boy, Mark Martin, was far from home. For the previous decade, he had lived with the justice and his wife in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Thomas had taken legal custody of Martin when he was 6 years old and had recently told an interviewer he was “raising him as a son.”

Tuition at the boarding school ran more than $6,000 a month. But Thomas did not cover the bill. A bank statement for the school from July 2009, buried in unrelated court filings, shows the source of Martin’s tuition payment for that month: the company of billionaire real estate magnate Harlan Crow.

The payments extended beyond that month, according to Christopher Grimwood, a former administrator at the school. Crow paid Martin’s tuition the entire time he was a student there, which was about a year, Grimwood told ProPublica.

“Harlan picked up the tab,” said Grimwood, who got to know Crow and the Thomases and had access to school financial information through his work as an administrator.

Before and after his time at Hidden Lake, Martin attended a second boarding school, Randolph-Macon Academy in Virginia. “Harlan said he was paying for the tuition at Randolph-Macon Academy as well,” Grimwood said, recalling a conversation he had with Crow during a visit to the billionaire’s Adirondacks estate.

ProPublica interviewed Martin, his former classmates and former staff at both schools. The exact total Crow paid for Martin’s education over the years remains unclear. If he paid for all four years at the two schools, the price tag could have exceeded $150,000, according to public records of tuition rates at the schools.

Thomas did not report the tuition payments from Crow on his annual financial disclosures. Several years earlier, Thomas disclosed a gift of $5,000 for Martin’s education from another friend. It is not clear why he reported that payment but not Crow’s.

The tuition payments add to the picture of how the Republican megadonor has helped fund the lives of Thomas and his family.

“You can’t be having secret financial arrangements,” said Mark W. Bennett, a retired federal judge appointed by President Bill Clinton. Bennett said he was friendly with Thomas and declined to comment for the record about the specifics of Thomas’ actions. But he said that when he was on the bench, he wouldn’t let his lawyer friends buy him lunch.

Thomas did not respond to questions. In response to previous ProPublica reporting on gifts of luxury travel, he said that the Crows “are among our dearest friends” and that he understood he didn’t have to disclose the trips.

Justice Thomas' benefactor collects Nazi memorabilia so of course he has a garden filled with statues of evil men

By LaloAlcaraz

 

Fish for free this weekend

Angling for a Deal? How about Free Fishing Weekend May 6-7?

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) announces it will hold its annual Free Fishing Weekend Saturday, May 6, and Sunday, May 7. 

DEM invites Rhode Islanders and visitors alike to fish in the state's freshwaters on both days for all species of freshwater fish without a fishing license, which costs $21 for residents and $38 for nonresidents, or a trout conservation stamp, which costs $5.50. 

Visit the DEM website for a complete list of stocked waters. The Division of Fish and Wildlife will continue to provide daily stocking information through the second and third stocking rounds this spring.

Established in 1995, the program provides an opportunity to encourage people to experience freshwater fishing as a new outdoor experience and highlight some of state's premier freshwater fishing areas. Free Fishing Weekend does not apply to saltwater fishing or saltwater licenses.

Freshwater fishing regulations on size/creel (possession) limits apply on May 6 and May 7. The daily creel and possession limit for trout is five from April 8 through Nov. 30 and two from Dec. 1, 2023, through Feb. 29, 2024. 

The creel/possession limit for trout taken in the Wood River between Route 165 and Barberville Dam at Arcadia Road is two fish from the second Saturday in May through the last day of February 2024. 

The minimum size of all trout or charr species taken from the waters of the state is eight inches, measured from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail. The creel and possession limit for domestic or landlocked Atlantic salmon in the freshwaters of the state is two fish per day and shall be included in the daily limit for trout, salmon, or charr. 

The minimum size for domestic salmon is 11 inches. No person shall take Atlantic salmon from the Pawcatuck River downstream of the Potter Hill dam. The taking of any fish in the freshwaters of the state by net, seine, trawl, cast net or gill net, or similar device — except for a dip net for the landing of a fish caught by hook and line — and the taking of baitfish are prohibited. 

For more regulation information, please refer to the 2023-24 Freshwater Fishing Abstract and the DEM website.

Information about stocked freshwaters and size and creel limits for all freshwater fish species also is available in the abstract and on the DEM website.

Anglers who catch a golden rainbow trout through May 8 will be eligible to receive a golden trout pin. Simply take a picture and email it to dem.fishri@dem.ri.gov for verification. 

Submissions must be received no later than Monday, May 8, 2023, to be eligible. One pin per person limit. The DEM Division of Fish and Wildlife's Freshwater and Diadromous Fisheries team has stocked the following freshwaters with golden rainbow trout:

Celebrate ‘Day of Reason” today

RI Atheists celebrate Day of Reason Thursday May 4 with State House evening projections on May 4th.

By Rhode Island Atheists

On May 4th, as Americans celebrate the “National Day of Prayer,” the members of Rhode Island Atheists invite you – and our elected leaders – to join us in recognizing a “Day of Reason” by celebrating the importance of rational thought for the liberty, advancement, and betterment of all citizens.

First recognized in 2003 by then Governor Lincoln Chafee, the “Day of Reason” highlights the importance of an inclusive secular society which welcomes all regardless of religious or secular beliefs. 

Declaring a day of reason shows that we are committed to supporting evidence-based solutions for today’s problems. Critical thinking and logical reasoning are vital tools to counter the malignant, divisive rhetoric pervading social media and dividing our country.

To fully recognize the freedoms of speech, thought and conscience for all people, we seek to encourage our lawmakers to critically examine and reject any legislation that attempts to deny rights to people, such as the right to a secular education, the right to an abortion, the respect for LGBTQ+ people and many other pressing issues. 

The road that leads a diverse society into happiness must have the widest path of freedom.

We can, and must, do better.

Rhode Island Atheists calls on Governor Daniel McKee and members of the general assembly to mark May 4 as a “Day of Reason” and elevate the use of scientific and rational thought as the most valuable methods for understanding problems, debating issues and making decisions. 

The Rhode Island Atheists will celebrate by projecting on the State House starting around 8pm.

CHARIHO Rotary pledges $25,000 for Wood River Health's expansion

“We are overwhelmed by the tremendous support we have received from the community”

Alison Croke, President/CEO and Jeff Duscha,
President of Rotary Club of Chariho

Wood River Health is pleased to announce that the Rotary Club of Chariho has pledged a $25,000 commitment to its Capital Campaign. The funds, which will be distributed over five years, will support the cost of building an addition to the community health center’s 823 Main Street facility in Hope Valley. 

"This project would not be successful without the generosity of local service organizations such as the Chariho Rotary Club,” stated Alison L. Croke, President and CEO of Wood River Health. “We are overwhelmed by the tremendous support we have received from the members of the community we serve.” 

"Wood River Health shares Chariho Rotary's mission to create positive and lasting change in the lives of the members of our community," stated Jeff Duscha, President of the Rotary Club of Chariho. "Our Club Members are proud to support the efforts of Wood River Health’s providers and staff, who work diligently to improve the quality of life of residents of Chariho.” 

Are microplastics invading the male reproductive system?

A new small-scale study builds on evidence that male fertility is at risk from environmental toxics.

Huanjia Zhang

A new pilot study shows that microplastics — plastic particles that are smaller than five millimeters or close to the size of a short rice grain – can be found in human testis and semen, according to the paper published last month in Science of The Total Environment.

While experts believe more data are needed to confirm the findings, this study sheds light on the possible penetration of microplastics into the human reproductive system and the urgency for understanding their potential health impact.

Led by researchers from Peking University in China, the small-scale study analyzed six testis and 30 semen samples for the presence of microplastics using two different laboratory techniques. Microplastics were detected in both human testis and semen, with the abundance in the testis significantly higher than that in semen.

The researchers found differences in the types of microplastics predominating in either testis or semen. 

While polystyrene, a main ingredient for plastic foams, was the most abundant polymer in the testis samples; polyethylene, which is commonly used for packaging, and polyvinyl chloride, which makes PVC pipes, were predominant in the semen. Additionally, they concluded that microplastics ranging from 20 micrometers to 100 micrometers, which is the average diameter of human hair, were the most common in testis, while those in semen had bigger sizes.

Worker Militancy Has Fueled a Surge in Union Growth and Popularity

It's one reason why Republicans are pushing anti-union legislation

CATHY KENNEDY, RN for Common Dreams

Citing concerns over lack of supplies and lack of staff, nurses at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center in Los Angeles (LAMC) strike on June 23, 2022.

 (Photo: California Nurses Association)

If there's one picture to summarize the growing militancy of many unions and workers, let's call it the picket sign. Behind that image is an important message as well–forceful challenges to big corporations benefit all working people and resonate with the broader public.

And, they are a key to winning improved living standards for the entire working class and to the growth of unions. For nurses, the strike has always been one of our most important tools for protecting patients from the health and safety damage created by corporate cost-cutting.

Strikes in the U.S. rose by nearly 50% in 2022, according to Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. And the trend has continued this year, including a three-day strike by some 30,000 Los Angeles school teachers' aides, bus drivers, custodians, and other support staff in March.

Wall Street tycoons and their allies in elected office and the media have devoted decades to vilifying unions and the very notion of workers going on strike to better the lives of workers and the communities they live in. Yet 2022 also witnessed the largest rise in support for unions in half a century, up to 71% public approval.

The message seems clear: Even when facing virulent retaliation from employers, workers were willing to engage in dynamic workplace actions, with growing support for unions.

The Ten Commandments

 

Does this seem fair to you?