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Friday, June 29, 2018
Tomorrow at the Charlestown Gallery
Why journalists should watch their backs
Trump had this to say today: “Journalists, like all Americans, should be free from the fear of being violently attacked while doing their job.”
Science is Peer Reviewed, Not Politician Approved
Monsanto’s ghostwriting and
strong-arming threaten sound science—and society
While
passing a placard of contemporary protest buttons in New York's Greenwich
Village, my attention was drawn to one that read "Science is Peer
Reviewed, Not Politician Approved."
This
short aphorism brought into focus two unfortunate realities. First, there are
growing segments of the population who have lost confidence in science and
choose to act on un-scientific or pseudo-scientific truth claims.
And second, other segments of the population view scientists as just another stakeholder group subject to the same market influences in the competition for producing credible knowledge.
And second, other segments of the population view scientists as just another stakeholder group subject to the same market influences in the competition for producing credible knowledge.
As
a generator of truth claims, science stands on its own footing. Unfortunately,
many corporations view science not as a generator of truth, but as one of many
inputs into production.
The
most recent examples of the corporate capture of science can be found in the
investigations of discovery documents, released under court mandate, arising
from mass tort product liability litigation filed against Monsanto Co.
VIDEO: “Every gun made…is a theft from those who hunger”
THE
MILITARY INDUSTRIAL DRAIN
By
Robert Reich
To
watch this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnR84h7t5kI
As
Trump stokes tensions around the world, he’s adding fuel to the fire by
demanding even more Pentagon spending. It’s a dangerous military buildup
intended to underwrite endless wars and enrich defense contractors, while
draining money from investment in the American people.
President
Dwight D. Eisenhower once noted, “Every gun that is made, every warship
launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those
who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
Eisenhower
was a Republican and a former general who helped win World War II for the
allies, yet he understood America’s true priorities. But Washington–and
especially Trump–have lost sight of these basic tradeoffs.
Since
2001, the Pentagon budget has soared from $456 billion–in today’s dollars–to
$700 billion, including the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other
national security expenses.
All told, when you include spending on the military and war, veterans’ benefits, and homeland security, military-related spending now eats up 67 percent of all federal discretionary spending.
All told, when you include spending on the military and war, veterans’ benefits, and homeland security, military-related spending now eats up 67 percent of all federal discretionary spending.
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Charlestown’s year without Democrats
Declarations
filed at deadline for town office include only independents
As of 3:30 AM, Thursday morning, the list of town
residents seeking elective municipal office in Charlestown includes no one endorsed
by either the Republican or Democratic town committees.
It's not unusual for the Republicans to run no candidates, since the
Charlestown Citizens Alliance (CCA Party) has pretty much supplanted the GOP.
However, this is the first time in my memory that no endorsed Democrat will appear on the ballot.
However, this is the first time in my memory that no endorsed Democrat will appear on the ballot.
Trying to keep homes above water
By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff
The Coastal Resources
Management Council's latest coastal planning guide, the Shoreline Change
Special Area Management Plan (Beach SAMP) was recently approved.
The document's biggest
influence is to Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) construction
permits needed for building along the shore within Rhode Island’s 21 coastal
communities.
As a climate-change preparedness tool it also offers guidance for state and municipal planners by looking ahead at the impacts of coastal storms, erosion, and sea-level rise.
As a climate-change preparedness tool it also offers guidance for state and municipal planners by looking ahead at the impacts of coastal storms, erosion, and sea-level rise.
Everything big data claims to know about you could be wrong
Going from the general to the specific often doesn't work when it comes to health
University of
California - Berkeley
When it comes to
understanding what makes people tick -- and get sick -- medical science has
long assumed that the bigger the sample of human subjects, the better. But new research led by the University of California, Berkeley, suggests this big-data approach may be wildly off the mark.
That's largely because
emotions, behavior and physiology vary markedly from one person to the next and
one moment to the next.
So averaging out data collected from a large group of human subjects at a given instant offers only a snapshot, and a fuzzy one at that, researchers said.
So averaging out data collected from a large group of human subjects at a given instant offers only a snapshot, and a fuzzy one at that, researchers said.
Where is Jared on this?
Jared Kushner’s Grandmother Bemoaned the “Closed Doors” That Faced Refugees to America
By Allan Sloan for ProPublica
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story holds much personal meaning for me. My mother was a German war refugee who met my father, part of the US occupation troops, in bombed out Berlin. Before his discharge, they got married and then made their way back to the US in 1949, the same year as the Kushners.
There was a problem - the quotas for immigrants like my mother were filled and she was held back from entry. Since she was carrying me at the time, I was almost born in Canada. In hindsight, maybe if that had happened, I would not be so embarrassed for the nation of my birth. - Will Collette
Way before Jared Kushner became internationally famous by moving into the White House to work for his father-in-law Donald Trump, those of us who live in New Jersey knew the family was an amazing story of immigrant success.
Jared Kushner’s paternal grandparents, Holocaust survivors Joseph and Rae Kushner, came to the United States in 1949 as impoverished Eastern European refugees and begat a family whose office buildings, apartment complexes and philanthropic efforts are important parts of the business and social landscapes in New Jersey and elsewhere.
Yes, there are scandals and feuds besetting parts of the family, and Jared’s father Charles racked up some prison time. But the family’s rise from refugees to titans is an example of what can happen when people are admitted into this country, work hard and prosper.
I got curious about the Kushner history after Jared invoked his immigrant forbears in his recent speech at the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. “I keep a photo of them on my desk” in the White House, he said.
As a grandson of Jewish Eastern European immigrants myself — my late father and Kushner’s late grandmother even had the same birth name, Slonimsky, but spelled it differently — I was impressed that Kushner remembers his roots and discusses his origins publicly.
 |
| Rae Kushner |
There was a problem - the quotas for immigrants like my mother were filled and she was held back from entry. Since she was carrying me at the time, I was almost born in Canada. In hindsight, maybe if that had happened, I would not be so embarrassed for the nation of my birth. - Will Collette
Way before Jared Kushner became internationally famous by moving into the White House to work for his father-in-law Donald Trump, those of us who live in New Jersey knew the family was an amazing story of immigrant success.
Jared Kushner’s paternal grandparents, Holocaust survivors Joseph and Rae Kushner, came to the United States in 1949 as impoverished Eastern European refugees and begat a family whose office buildings, apartment complexes and philanthropic efforts are important parts of the business and social landscapes in New Jersey and elsewhere.
Yes, there are scandals and feuds besetting parts of the family, and Jared’s father Charles racked up some prison time. But the family’s rise from refugees to titans is an example of what can happen when people are admitted into this country, work hard and prosper.
I got curious about the Kushner history after Jared invoked his immigrant forbears in his recent speech at the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. “I keep a photo of them on my desk” in the White House, he said.
As a grandson of Jewish Eastern European immigrants myself — my late father and Kushner’s late grandmother even had the same birth name, Slonimsky, but spelled it differently — I was impressed that Kushner remembers his roots and discusses his origins publicly.
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
“Seeking safety is not a crime”
Trump policy making asylum-seeking a crime violates US and
international law
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins
Sans Frontières
New asylum rules and policies
imposed by the United States government are cruel and inhumane, and deny safety
to thousands of Central Americans fleeing extreme violence, said the
international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without
Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on World Refugee Day.
The Trump Administration is now
effectively dismantling protections enshrined in US and international law
designed to protect refugees and asylum seekers.
US authorities are subjecting people who have been the victims of crime, torture, and abuse to even greater harm and suffering—including detaining and forcibly separating children from their families.
US authorities are subjecting people who have been the victims of crime, torture, and abuse to even greater harm and suffering—including detaining and forcibly separating children from their families.
"Seeking safety is not a
crime," said Jason Cone, executive director of MSF-USA, who recently
visited MSF programs in El Salvador.
Helicoptering may mess up your kids
Children with over-controlling parents may struggle later
American Psychological Association
It's natural for parents to do whatever they can to keep their
children safe and healthy, but children need space to learn and grow on their
own, without Mom or Dad hovering over them, according to new research published
by the American Psychological Association. The study, published in the journal Developmental Psychology, found that overcontrolling parenting can negatively affect a child's ability to manage his or her emotions and behavior.
"Our research showed that children with helicopter parents
may be less able to deal with the challenging demands of growing up, especially
with navigating the complex school environment," said Nicole B. Perry,
PhD, from the University of Minnesota, and lead author of the study.
"Children who cannot regulate their emotions and behavior effectively are more likely to act out in the classroom, to have a harder time making friends and to struggle in school."
"Children who cannot regulate their emotions and behavior effectively are more likely to act out in the classroom, to have a harder time making friends and to struggle in school."
Chemical bombshell
Suppressed Study: The EPA Underestimated Dangers of Widespread Chemicals
By Abrahm Lustgarten, Lisa Song and Talia Buford for ProPublica
A major environmental health study that had been suppressed by the Trump administration because of the “public relations nightmare” it might cause the Pentagon and other polluters has been quietly released online.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the controversial 852-page review of health dangers from a family of chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — manmade chemicals used in everything from carpets and frying pan coatings to military firefighting foams — on its website and a notice in the Federal Register.
The study upends federally accepted notions for how much of these chemicals are safe for people — recommending an exposure limit for one of the compounds that is 10 times lower than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has maintained is the safe threshold, and seven times lower for another compound.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the controversial 852-page review of health dangers from a family of chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS — manmade chemicals used in everything from carpets and frying pan coatings to military firefighting foams — on its website and a notice in the Federal Register.
The study upends federally accepted notions for how much of these chemicals are safe for people — recommending an exposure limit for one of the compounds that is 10 times lower than what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has maintained is the safe threshold, and seven times lower for another compound.
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