How to beat insomnia

From Fake Science, where you can find all the answers

How to Safely Browse the Web

Privacy Tools 

by Julia Angwin, ProPublica

In the course of writing her book, Dragnet Nation, ProPublica reporter Julia Angwin tried various strategies to protect her privacy. In this blog post, she distills the lessons from her privacy experiments into useful tips for readers.

One of the easiest and simplest things you can do to protect your privacy is to be a smarter Web browser.

This is surprisingly difficult because most popular Web browsing software is set up to allow users to be tracked by default. The reason is simple economics 2013 you don't pay for Web browsing software, so the companies that make it have to find other ways to make money.

The most egregious example of this conflict came in 2008 when Microsoft's advertising executives helped quash a plan by the engineers to build better privacy protections into the Internet Explorer 8 Web browser. Microsoft has since added additional protections 2013 but they are not turned on by default.

The situation is no better at Google, whose Chrome Web browser has "buried and discouraged" the "Do Not Track" button, and is pioneering the use of new tracking technology that cannot be blocked. And it's worth noting that the other big Web browser maker, Mozilla Corp., receives 85 percent of its revenues (PDF) from its agreement to make Google the default search engine on Firefox.

How Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Capital Grille boost their profits

A Great Place for Wage Theft

By Phil Mattera in Dirt Diggers Digest

Restaurant giant Darden, which is being pressured by hedge funds to sell off both its Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, got some good news recently when it appeared once again on Fortune magazine’s list of the 100 companies that are supposedly the best places to work.

That designation, for a company that has been the subject of numerous allegations of labor abuse, is even more puzzling than the idea that Darden would be better off without the outlets through which it grew into an $8 billion industry powerhouse.

For more than a decade, Darden has been accused by groups such as ROC United of using various means to shortchange its workers on their paychecks, a practice known as wage theft. 

Absolutely true

Ticks, Lyme Disease Remain a Concern in Winter

By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI.org News staff

URI tick specialist Thomas Mather handed
out live deer ticks to senators at
a Jan. 22 Statehouse hearing.

PROVIDENCE — When does tick season start? According to local tick expert Thomas Mather, it never ends. There might be snow on the ground and single-digit temperatures, but tick season is always just a few mild days away, Mather explained during a Jan. 22 presentation about ticks and Lyme disease at the Statehouse.

In fact, after a recent warm spell in early January Mather found dozens of ticks at one of his test sites.

If you look at one of his maps of the country, Rhode Island is at the heart of deer tick density, and it’s getting worse, he said. Last year was a record year for deer ticks in Rhode Island, and 2012 set the previous record. “The problem is there’s more ticks in more places than ever before,” Mather said.

The causes of this tick population outbreak and spread of Lyme disease are not fully known, but a combination of climate, deer population growth and development of rural land are the prime suspects, according to James McDonald, chief administrative officer at the Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH).

PART ONE: Erosion Happens: Can We Deal With It?

Rising seas and more intense storms are challenging southern New England’s shoreline, coastal homes and infrastructure

By FRANK CARINI/ecoRI.org News staff

A rock wall intended to protect this Plum Island home has been
 heavily damaged by an unrelenting sea. (Rachel Playe/ecoRI News)

Southern New England’s coastline — the region’s economic engine — is under siege, and this relentless enemy is gaining force. It can’t be subdued by 20-foot-high seawalls or controlled by old-school hay bales. It’s allies include parking lots, beachfront development and climate change.

Coastal communities here are increasingly experiencing the impacts of an encroaching ocean. Storm waves are eroding beaches and flooding developed areas. Rising sea levels are taking land. The ocean’s power even when it’s seemingly tranquil is unmatched, but when it’s angry our continued disrespect proves costly.

State and local officials are now asking how they can protect people, property and vital infrastructure such as drinking water supplies, utilities and roads from the advancing sea. There are no simple solutions, but there’s also no reason to panic. The sky isn’t falling, but the ocean is creeping in; our coastline is changing, and smart decisions must be made.

Stop wasting food

Walsh proposes statewide food-waste collection 

NeoEnergy's food digester, soon to be at Quonset. It will be the first on the
East Coast. (graphic from NeoEnergy via ecoRI.org)
Get more details on this process by clicking here.

STATE HOUSE news release – Legislation introduced by Rep. Donna M.Walsh would sow the seeds for more widespread composting and reduction of food-scrap waste in Rhode Island.

The legislation is aimed at extending the limited life of the state’s Central Landfill by reducing the waste dumped there, harnessing the waste’s potential for production of energy and organic fertilizer and giving a boost to Rhode Island’s green economy.

Putting class into perspective

Nation of Moochers

By Jen Sorenson

Click here to see who is a moocher and who is not.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Bright Supernova in M82 

From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

Astronomers really don't find supernovae by looking for the arrows. But in this image taken January 23rd, an arrow does point to an exciting, new supernova, now cataloged as SN 2014J, in nearby bright galaxy M82. 

Located near the Big Dipper in planet Earth's sky, M82 is also known as the Cigar Galaxy, a popular target for telescopes in the northern hemisphere. In fact, SN 2014J was first spotted as an unfamiliar source in the otherwise familiar galaxy by teaching fellow Steve Fossey and astronomy workshop students Ben Cooke, Tom Wright, Matthew Wilde and Guy Pollack at the University College London Observatory on the evening of January 21.

M82 is a mere 12 million light-years away (so the supernova explosion did happen 12 million years ago, that light just now reaching Earth), making supernova SN 2014J one of the closest to be seen in recent decades.

Spectra indicate it is a Type Ia supernova caused by the explosion of a white dwarf accreting matter from a companion star. By some estimates two weeks away from its maximum brightness, SN 2014J is already the brightest part of M82 and visible in small telescopes in the evening sky.

DEM wants to expand effort to identify and protect vulnerable wild life

Over 450 species on the list already

PROVIDENCE - The Department of Environmental Management's Division of Fish and Wildlife announces a new community liaison for Rhode Island's Wildlife Action Plan and the development of a list of vulnerable fish and wildlife species in Rhode Island. 

This effort to identify the Species in Greatest Need of Conservation in Rhode Island was accomplished through a series of workshops with scientific experts and stakeholders over the last year to meet the requirements of the 2015 Wildlife Action Plan (WAP) revision and be eligible for Federal State Wildlife Action Grant funding over the next 10 years. There is no regulatory component to the WAP and its implementation is voluntary.

The Rhode Island WAP guides wildlife conservation across the state by identifying priority actions for agencies, conservation groups, towns and citizens alike to all do their part to help wildlife. 

Conserving wildlife and its habitat helps provide clean water and air and protect the quality of life for the humans and wildlife that share Rhode Island's environment. It also ensures that our children will be able to enjoy these special animals and places in a healthy environment.

Incomplete

Obamacare: A Midterm Report Card

by Charles Ornstein, ProPublica

The first half of the Obamacare open enrollment period is over, and yesterday, federal health officials announced sign-up figures from the first three months.

After a disastrous start, HealthCare.gov (which handles enrollment for 36 states) began functioning properly. It, along with state-run insurance exchanges, netted more than 2.1 million signups between Oct. 1 and Dec. 28.

But are sign-ups on pace to meet the Congressional Budget Office's projection of 7 million this year? And is there an adequate balance between young and old, sick and healthy, to keep costs in line? That's harder to say.

Here's what we know:

Tomorrow - community meeting with our Charlestown legislators

Rep. Donna Walsh and Senator Catherine Cool Rumsey will host January 25 forum for voters in South County

On January 25, 2014, Rep. Donna Walsh (D-District 36, Block Island, Charlestown, South Kingstown, Westerly) and Senator Cathie Cool Rumsey (D-District 39, Charlestown, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond) will host a forum at the Cross’ Mills Public Library, 4417 Old Post Rd in Charlestown from 10 AM to 11 AM.

Rep. Walsh and Senator Cool Rumsey welcome all residents living or working in her district for coffee and snacks.

Charlestown Tapas

• Good news - No bloodshed at Chariho meeting
• New neighbor – Manda Panda?
• Frank Maher as a campaign manager?
• NRA-RI takes another hit
• “Got Smarties®?
• How the other side lives

By Will Collette

Chariho omnibus meeting ends without arrests or serious injury

Representatives from Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton managed to get together in one room on January 15 to discuss their “differences” about the funding and operations ofthe Chariho School District without shots being fired. 

Charlestown Town Councilor Dan Slattery (CCA Party) managed to restrain himself to simply making snarling remarks about Richmond Town Council President Joe Reddish’s effort to get the towns to discuss changes to the Chariho Act. 

I had heard some rumors about minor injuries to people sitting near Slattery when bristles flew off his brush-cut during some of the more heated exchanges.

VIDEO: so horrible, it even scares New Yorkers

You've been warned!

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Spiral Galaxies in Collision 

From NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

Billions of years from now, only one of these two galaxies will remain. Until then, spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 will slowly pull each other apart, creating tides of matter, sheets of shocked gas, lanes of dark dust, bursts of star formation, and streams of cast-away stars. 

Astronomers predict that NGC 2207, the larger galaxy on the left, will eventually incorporate IC 2163, the smaller galaxy on the right.

In the most recent encounter that about peaked 40 million years ago, the smaller galaxy is swinging around counter-clockwise, and is now slightly behind the larger galaxy. The space between stars is so vast that when galaxies collide, the stars in them usually do not collide.

Not very good news for men

BPA exposure linked to prostate cancer

By Brian Bienkowski, Environmental Health News

Bisphenol A is used to make polycarbonate plastic and is found in the linings of some food and drink cans and thermal paper receipts

Exposure to low levels of bisphenol A during development may make men more susceptible to prostate cancer later in life, according to a new study published on January 7.

The study, which uses a new model of implanting human stem cells into mice, is the first to link early-life BPA exposure to human prostate cancer. It adds to a growing body of research that suggests exposure to low doses of the chemical alters cells and can lead to diseases later in life.

“Overall I think this is some of the strongest and most convincing evidence to date linking early-life BPA exposure and cancer,” said Heather Patisaul, a researcher at North Carolina State University who was not involved in the study. “They were careful to make the exposures human relevant, used cells derived from healthy humans and replicated physiological conditions seen in aging men.”

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in U.S. men. About 15 percent of men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, according to the National Cancer Institute.

BPA is used to make polycarbonate plastics and is found in in some paper receipts, liners of some food cans and dental sealants. More than 90 percent of Americans have traces in their bodies and previous studies suggest there is "universal fetal exposure."

Researchers led by a team from the University of Illinois at Chicago implanted prostate stem cells from deceased young men into mice. When the mice were fed BPA by mouth for the first two weeks of life, 33 percent of the stem cells had cancerous or precancerous lesions later in life. 

Forty-five percent of the cells that were exposed to BPA before and after mice implantation developed precancerous or cancerous lesions later. In comparison, only 12 percent of the mice not exposed to BPA during development had cancer or precancerous lesions later in life.

BPA acts as an estrogen and previous research has linked elevated estrogen levels during pregnancy to increased risk of prostate cancer in males.