Poor-Shaming 2.0

Republicans want to humiliate low-income households that qualify for aid to access the Internet.

By Jim Hightower

Being poor means a life of sacrifices, frustrations, and constant struggle. So what is it about Republican officeholders that causes them to go out of their way to make life even harder for low-income people?

GOP governors, Congress critters, and other officials are making access to all kinds of public assistance, especially food stamps, as burdensome and humiliating as possible. The latest example comes from the two Republican members of the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC intends to expand its Lifeline program, which makes broadband Internet service more accessible to people facing economic hardship. That’s a good thing, because universal access to the Web is essential to America’s educational advancement and global competitiveness.

Mark Twain would have hated high stakes testing

What Would Mark Twain Have Thought of the Common Core Tests?

By Diane Ravitch

It is always risky to imagine what some long-dead figure might have thought about current events. But David Perrin, an experienced high school English teacher in Illinois, makes a good case for Mark Twain’s likely reaction to Common Core testing.

He cites Twain’s writings to show his disdain for test-centered teaching. Perrin gives example after example of Twain’s low regard for the teaching of facts without meaning, taught solely to be parroted back to the teacher.

Perrin writes:

It's not just URI studying the ocean ecology

RIC Professor Studying Impact of Toxins and Climate Change on Marine Environments

By ecoRI News staff

Rhode Island College associate professor of biology Rebeka Merson,
middle, and students Keya Thakkar, left, and Timothy Bock Jr.
are studying the impacts of PCBs on marine environments. (RIC)

PROVIDENCE — Contaminants in the marine environment, the adaptation of animals to toxic environments and climate change are the focus of a research study begun this year by Rhode Island College associate professor of biology Rebeka Merson. She is working in collaboration with Diane Nacci of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Merson was awarded a Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) grant in February to fund the project titled “Narragansett Bay Apex Predators’ Response to Toxic Chemicals and Climate Change.”

The study is focusing on evolution and toxicology in cartilaginous fish, using as the model the little skate, a fish that is most often used as bait in lobster traps and that has been used as a model organism for biology and medical research.

Merson’s study involves exposing little skates to environmental contaminants called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) often found in industrial waste.

Family planning is key to women;s health

Bring Back Public Health Standards for Women's Reproductive Health
By Joycelyn Elders 

As Americans, we strive for safety -- the safest medicines, safest cars, safest toys. But when it comes to women's reproductive health, our state legislatures are passing laws putting women's health at risk -- about 250 since 2011. And now they do it under the guise of "womens safety." 

Women of color, especially African-American women, are disproportionately being affected by these policies throughout the Southern states where I live and spend much of my time mentoring young physicians and health professionals.

The most serious health risks for women are coming from politicians cutting back access to family planning services and telling doctors how to practice medicine especially around procedures related to terminating a pregnancy.

Costly clinic licensing standards, invasive ultrasound procedures and lengthy mandatory waiting periods (as if women haven't already thought about this decision) are unnecessary because legal abortion is one of the safest surgical procedures available. In the United States, nearly 90 percent are done in the first trimester when abortion is safest.

Once again Texas is the battleground in the war over women's bodies. Whereas just a few years ago there were 41 abortion clinics, the recent federal appeals court decision to uphold restrictions will likely close about half of Texas' remaining 18 clinics. 

Those of us in the public health community know what is likely to happen as a result: more unintended pregnancy since many of these clinics also provide contraceptive services and more unintended births since abortion will become less available.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, unintended pregnancy is highest among poor women, young women and women of color. Addressing institutional barriers to culturally and linguistically appropriate health information and services would help reduce these disparities, as would more and better age-appropriate sexual health education programs in our public schools. 

Yet funding for these programs is being cut. Again it is politicians making many of these decisions, not public health professionals.

The Affordable Care Act addresses disparities by requiring that certain preventive services including contraception be provided at no cost. The Republican -- mostly male -- Congress' constant attacks on Obamacare, coupled with the US Supreme Court's pending decisions concerning access to insurance plans, stand to jeopardize any gains that have been made.

Ironically, some legislators and courts talk about the "sanctity of life" while railing against affordable contraception, prenatal care and a living wage, which all serve to enhance the quality of life for women.

Trump’s Badmouthing Deportment

The presidential candidate’s rants have galvanized Latinos of all ages, backgrounds, and political affiliations.

By Raul A. Reyes

The chips just keep falling. The Professional Golf Association is one of the latest companies to part ways with Donald Trump. The PGA announced that it would not hold its Grand Slam of Golf at a Trump golf course in Los Angeles, because of the business mogul’s recent remarks about Mexicans and immigrants.

Other companies that have dumped or distanced themselves from Trump since he treated throwing his hairpiece in the ring as a reality TV episode include Macy’s, NBCUniversal, Univision, NASCAR, ESPN, Farouk Haircare Systems, and Serta Mattress.

The list of celebrities is as long or longer and includes chefs José Andrés and Geoffrey Zakarian, Dancing with the Stars’ Cheryl Burke and MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts. Burke and Roberts were slated to co-host Trump’s Miss USA pageant but quit in protest.

When Trump’s compared Mexican immigrants to drug dealers, criminals, and “rapists” during the launch of his presidential campaign, he brought on a refreshing moment of unity for Latinos. We stood up against hate speech with unprecedented results. We learned who are our friends are — and who they aren’t.

Jade Helm paranoid can’t wait to kill “thousands”

Texas Jade Helm Leader: ‘Liberals Are Useless – Can’t Wait To Kill Thousands Of These F*cks’

By Antiphon Freeman

Pete Lanteri, the notorious and “hot-headed” leader of Counter Jade Helm Texas, is making news again. He apparently was so upset by having to shut down his original Facebook page due to “too many liberal trolls” that he thought it’d be a good idea to vent his frustration by threatening liberals everywhere. 

This is just the kind of crazy behavior you’d expect from a guy who organized a group with a mission statement that read: “The sole purpose of Counter Jade Helm is to observe the attempted infiltration of our towns.” He also said:

“I can’t wait to kill thousands of these f*cks man!”

He was confronted about it on Fox News Radio by host Alan Colmes, and claims he was just having a “bad couple of days.” He allegedly just came  back from cremating his dog and his co-founder, William Silaghi, had just quit because he “couldn’t take the pressure from the liberal media.”

Well, guess what? The post was never deleted. It’s still on his Facebook. You can visit it HERE. If he made the statement due to a short temper, then he would have the courtesy of removing it.

It’s possible that shortly after publishing this article Pete could change it, or restrict his Facebook settings on his account. But, for right now all information is public domain, and it remains unchanged. Regardless, the damage is already done, and it doesn’t matter because a screen shot of the comment has been made available for all read here.

Coalition says warm water discharges must stop

Pilgrim Power Plant Operating with Expired Permit

By FRANK CARINI/ecoRI News staff

The town of Plymouth, on Cape Cod Bay, has
been home to the Pilgrim Nuclear Power
Station since the facility opened in 1972.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Pilgrim is the second-closest nuclear power plant to Charlestown. The closest plant – Millstone Nuclear Power station near New London – is only 20 miles away, but it shares most of the problems that Pilgrim has. Before coming to Charlestown, Town Administrator Mark Stankiewicz was Plymouth's town manager and had to deal with Plymoth as one of the town's main employers - and polluters.

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Broken promises and financial interests are polluting Cape Cod Bay. For nearly two decades, federal and state authorities have allowed the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to operate with an expired Clean Water Act permit.

Two dozen public-health and environmental groups find it unacceptable that a power plant on the shore of an ecologically rich water body that hosts a diverse array of habitats is allowed to continue to use technology from the 1960s. Last month, this statewide coalition issued a report that “exposes the failure of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to properly regulate the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station under federal and state environmental laws.”

The coalition is asking the agencies to suspend Entergy Corp.’s water pollution permit, said Meg Sheehan, a volunteer attorney with the Cape Cod Bay Watch, because it’s allowing the continued pollution of the bay and destruction of marine ecosystems — in violation of the very basis of the Clean Water Act.

So you think dolphins are SO smart?

Upcoming events

From the Mystic Aquarium.

Join us on Wednesday, July 29th from 10am-2pm for Ocean Science and Technology Day at Mystic Aquarium! Come meet scientists and researchers from the Aquarium and the University of Connecticut. Learn about the real world research they do and the cutting edge technology they work with. Visit exciting exhibits, and see demonstrations of innovative ocean technologies. You can even get hands on and test drive an Remotely Operated Vehicle or ROV!

This event is sponsored by the COSEE-TEK (Center for Ocean Science Education Excellence- Technology and Engineering for Knowledge) program, whose mission is to innovate and adapt approaches to improve the quality, availability, and impact of ocean science education by linking science, technology, and engineering to catalyze learning and communication of STEM topics for teachers, students, scientists, and the public.

Cost: Free with admission, no registration required.

Mystic Aquarium, 55 Coogan Blvd., Mystic, CT 06355-1997
Website: www.mysticaquarium.org or e-mail: info@mysticaquarium.org Phone: 860.572.5955

“Quonnie The Musical, August 7-8 at the Quonnie Grange

A celebration of Quonochontaug culture and Rhode Island customs, “Quonnie The Musical” returns to the Grange for the fifth annual production in August. Full of catchy songs, hilarious jokes, and tributes to favorite summer traditions, “Quonnie The Musical” is performed by an all-ages cast.

Not sure if this production will feature such Quonnie artifacts as its fake fire district, its Aqua-NIMBYs who oppose shell-fishing and aquaculture, attempts to block off public access to the beach and its role as the power center for the Charlestown Citizens Alliance. - editor

As always, some proceeds from the musical benefit the Quonochontaug Historical Society. This year’s musical will be presented August 7 and 8 at 7pm at the Quonnie Grange, 5664 Post Road in Charlestown.

For more information, go to www.quonniethemusical.com or contact Eden Casteel, www.edencasteel.com or www.rinats.org or http://edencasteelmusicstudio.fullslate.com/ or401-932-5589.

Tickets on sale for Rhythm and Roots

This will be their 18th concert and, if the Charlestown Citizens Alliance and the Arnolda Improvement Association have their way, their last.

The 18th annual Rhythm & Roots Festival will be held from 5 p.m. to midnight Sept. 4 and noon to midnight Sept. 5-6 at Ninigret Park, 4890A Old Post Road.

The festival features four stages, Cajun and Creole cuisine, two wooden dance floors, dance instruction, workshops, Kids’ Mardi Gras Parade, Cajun Kids Academy with instrument instruction and showcases. The lineup includes Lake Street Dive, Dustbowl Revival, The Mavericks, Keb ‘Mo and more.

Gates open one hour prior to start time each day. The festival has camping available, and the park contains a swimming area, nature trails and a recreational area for kids.

Tickets, $40-$225, are available by calling 888-855-6940 or online at rhythmandroots.com.

Mapping shoreline loss

URI researchers map submerged areas of Fire Island National Seashore to monitor changing habitats

Todd McLeish

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. –A team of University of Rhode Island scientists and students is spending the summer using high-tech equipment to map submerged habitats along the coast of Fire Island National Seashore on Long Island. Their aim is to help the National Park Service better understand its holdings and how they are changing from the effects of major storms, sea level rise, warming waters and other factors.

The project, led by URI Oceanography Professor John King, was launched a year ago in response to damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, which created a breach in Fire Island’s 26-mile long barrier beach. The Park Service sought to gather baseline data about the submerged portions of the national seashore so it can monitor how it changes in the future.

“The Park Service is charged with protecting vast submerged areas, but it has little data about those habitats, making it difficult to manage and conserve them,” said King, a geological oceanographer at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography who studies coastal erosion, sedimentology and coastal marine habitats. “They will use the data we collect to develop management plans and monitoring programs.”

Chemical safety is good business

How Stricter Chemical Regulations Will Be Good for the Industry

By Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks 

Most people probably don't check the labels of chemical products they use, or go online to do research about how dangerous certain chemicals are. That's understandable, but it's also a shame, because there are a lot of scary chemicals out there.

Take 1,4-Dioxane. If you haven't heard of it, I'm not surprised. It's a chemical used in some cosmetics, detergents, and shampoos.

It has also been classified as a possible carcinogen. And the agency that's supposed to test chemicals for toxicity -- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) -- hasn't. The law that's supposed to regulate toxic chemicals, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), has failed on this and many other chemicals currently used in commerce.

Border security, Texas-style

Mass Graves Discovered In Texas – State Claims Nothing To See Here

By Nathaniel Downes

The Killing Fields, the Holocaust, the tragedies of Chechnya, Hue, Sooriyakanda, Duraiappa stadium, these are just some names associated with mass graves over the past century. Now we can add another name to that list: Texas.

As discovered in 2012, Texas’ border patrol, operated by the Department of Public Safety for several years, has been engaging in a systematic burial of bodies across the state and the burials have not stopped. 

As reported in a documentary released by The Weather Channel and Telemundo late last year, the state border patrol has been finding bodies of people suspected of crossing the border illegally and systematically dumping them into these pit graves.

And, it turns out, Texas lacks any statute against such body dumping. The border patrol agents show up, put the bodies into trash bags and systematically dump the bodies in unmarked graves. Even more disturbing come the reports that these refugees call for help beforehand, but are ignored by the patrol agents until enough time has passed to let them die in the desert. 

Corporate and environmental criminals rarely go to jail. Why is that?

Getting Tough with El Corpo

By Phil Mattera, Dirt Diggers Digest

As part of my summer reading I’ve been taking another look at some of the key works of the past on corporate crime to consider their relevance for today.

One of the titles on my list is Russell Mokhiber’s Corporate Crime and Violence, which profiled three dozen of the most egregious cases of environmental, workplace hazard and defective product abuses that had occurred in the years leading up to the publication of the book in 1988. Among the culprits were Dow Chemical (Agent Orange), Occidental Petroleum (Love Canal), Johns Manville (asbestos), General Electric (PCBs) and Ford Motor (exploding Pintos).

Why is that, dude?

Why hemp and marijuana are different

University of Minnesota

Genetic differences between hemp and marijuana determine whether Cannabis plants have the potential for psychoactivity, a new study by University of Minnesota scientists shows.

"Given the diversity of cultivated forms of Cannabis, we wanted to identify the genes responsible for differences in drug content," says U of M plant biologist George Weiblen. 

While marijuana is rich in psychoactive tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), hemp produces mostly a non-euphoric cannabidiol (CBD), but the genetic basis for this difference was a matter of speculation until now. The study was published in the July 17 online edition of New Phytologist.

A Luxury Vacation with No Modern Conveniences

The wonders of nature should be accessible to all, not a privileged few.

By Jill Richardson

When you read this, I’ll probably be out in the wilderness on a 220-mile hike along the John Muir Trail. Embarking on this journey through California’s breathtaking Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequoia National Parks reminded me of a conversation I had in Mexico five years ago.

I’m a relative newbie to hiking and backpacking — I didn’t grow up outdoorsy. Traveling to a rural part of Chiapas in 2010 to research indigenous farming techniques took me outside my comfort zone and helped me find a new hobby.

I went with friends I trusted, and they were comfortable with our accommodations. My discomfort started the first time I asked for the restroom and somebody told me to go behind a tree.

Wait, you mean there’s no — what?