To vax, or not to vax

CDC faces dilemma over  new Covid booster for all

Arthur Allen 

A small percentage of Americans got the most recent covid-19 booster shot, and even fewer probably realize the federal government is preparing to recommend yet another shot as early as Tuesday.

Until a week or two ago, William Schaffner read that indifference as a sign the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should advocate vaccinating only those most at risk from the virus.

But then Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, changed his mind.

Members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices won him over to the argument that the vaccine be recommended for all Americans above 6 months of age, he said in an interview. 

Not all vaccine experts see it quite as Schaffner, a nonvoting liaison representative to the ACIP, does.

“I don’t plan to get it myself,” said Paul Offit, 72, the director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He’s had two boosters and got covid last year. 

Another vaccine might increase his protection against mild infection for a few months, but like most Americans’ immune systems, his is already familiar enough with the virus to protect him from serious disease, Offit believes.

Some of Schaffner’s scientific colleagues argue the government should be recommending the shot only for frail, older, sick, and immunocompromised people. 

Over 95% of the U.S. population are already covid-immunized through vaccination, infection, or both, and the risks of serious illness for healthy younger people are not great.

Everyone is likely overexposed to BPA – EU

If you're using plastic, you're likely above acceptable health safety levels.

Douglas Fischer, Environmental Health News

Our exposure to a common plastic additive linked to breast cancer and obesity likely exceeds health thresholds set by governments worldwide.

The European Environment Agency, citing updated research data, said the new findings raise "significant health concerns" for the entire European population – and, by extension, anyone who comes into frequent contact with plastic.

The agency cited a study that found every single participant of a biomonitoring study was likely exposed to the chemical above safe health thresholds. The participants came from 11 European countries.

The chemical, bisphenol-a, or "BPA," makes plastics hard and is found in a variety of products, from reusable water bottles and plastic food containers to sports equipment. 

It is also a key ingredient in epoxies and resins, including canned food liners. And that grittiness you feel when you rub a thermal paper sales receipt between your fingers? That's BPA.

Seth takes on Tommy Tuberville

Magaziner condemns Sen. Tuberville for undermining US servicemembers and national security

For more cartoons by Nick Anderson, CLICK HERE

Representative Seth Magaziner (RI-02) spoke on the House Floor to condemn Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville for his unprecedented action to block senior military promotions, undermining our military service members and national security. 

“Since February, the Alabama Senator has blocked more than 300 qualified officers in the military from receiving the promotions that they have earned, and from assuming the posts that our country needs them in. 

“No one is happier with the Senator from Alabama’s antics than Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and our nation’s other adversaries. By undermining our military, he is doing their dirty work for them. 

Under my thumb

By Ann Telnaes 

Pizza this Saturday with CRU at the Breachway

Fellow Residents of Charlestown,  Charlestown Residents United invites you, your family, and friends to an afternoon of food, drink and discussion at The Breachway Grill, Saturday, September 23, from 2 - 4 pm.     As the season changes from summer to fall, please join Charlestown Residents United to give us an honest review of how we are doing. We’d love to hear from you on a list of topics, especially your feedback on the items listed below:  ·    Do you like the newfound accountability and availability of your elected officials? ·    Do the workings of town government appear more transparent than ever? ·    Are more people being included in how things get done? ·    And doesn’t it feel like the whole town is more cohesive, showing up at events like the annual bonfire and PVD Food Truck events?  So please, join us in the relaxed setting on the patio at the Breachway Grill on Saturday, Sep. 23 from 2-4 pm to support the team that helped bring about change and help put the “Town” back in Charlestown!   Pizza and soft drinks provided; cash bar.  Suggested donation $25. (Donate page on our website.)  With thanks, Tim Quillen, Chair Charlestown Residents United   Charlestown Residents United P.O. Box 412 Charlestown, RI 02813   Visit our Website

Shoreline access foes get tossed out of federal court

Federal court judge dismisses challenge to RI shoreline access law

by Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Wrong court, wrong argument and against the wrong people.

So declared U.S. District Court Judge William Smith in his Sept. 19 opinion dismissing a legal challenge to the state’s newly inked shoreline access law. Smith ultimately sided with state Attorney General Peter Neronha, who sought to have the lawsuit thrown out. 

Smith’s reasoning, as laid out in a nine-page opinion, was three-fold: the group of coastal taxpayers who filed the complaint failed to prove individual members had been harmed by the law; the state agencies named as defendants are the wrong group to sue; and federal court is not the right place to hear a challenge to the state’s constitution.

“Defendants move to dismiss the Complaint on two grounds, and both can be reduced to an argument that Plaintiff seeks the wrong relief from the wrong defendants before the wrong court,” Smith wrote.

Neronha applauded the opinion in a statement on Wednesday, reiterating his pledge to protect residents’ constitutional right to access the shore, as clarified by state lawmakers earlier this year. 

The new law, signed by Gov. Dan McKee in June, attempted to resolve a decadeslong dispute over where to draw the line in the sand, allowing public access to the beach anywhere 10 feet landward from the high tide or “wrack” line.

Weeks later, a group of shoreline property owners known as the Rhode Island Association of Coastal Taxpayers (RIACT) sued Neronha and other state agencies, contending the law amounted to an unconstitutional “taking” of their property and asking for a judge to immediately stop them from enforcing the law.

More disease-carrying local bugs found

Take precautions 

The Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) are announcing that one mosquito sample collected Sept. 12 from a trap set in the Boy Scout Camp Sandsland on Block Island has tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) virus.

A mosquito sample from Westerly has tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV) also collected Sept. 12. RIDOH State Health Laboratories confirmed the findings after testing 147 mosquito samples collected from traps set statewide by DEM on Sept. 12. Testing on these samples at the Rhode Island State Health Laboratories is not yet complete. 

DEM and RIDOH appreciate the Boy Scouts of America’s responsiveness in closing its camps in Glocester and Block Island for the remainder of the season after discussions with state health officials. 

Last week, DEM announced that it has temporarily closed state-owned recreational areas in Glocester, including the George Washington State Campground, Durfee Hill and George Washington Management Areas, and Pulaski State Park until further notice to protect the health and safety of visitors and staff.

To date, Rhode Island reports six positive EEE virus mosquito samples: five in Glocester and one on Block Island, one EEE case in a mammal (a donkey in Glocester that was announced Sept. 7), and 12 WNV findings: six in Westerly, two in Barrington, and one each in Cranston, Johnston, Richmond, and Tiverton.

Not from out there?

NASA report finds no evidence that UFOs are extraterrestrial

Chris Impey, University of Arizona

NASA’s UAP study team and newly appointed director of
UAP research represent growing efforts to study and
declassify UFO-related data. AP Photo/Terry Renn

NASA’s independent study team released its highly anticipated report on UFOs on Sept. 14, 2023.

In part to move beyond the stigma often attached to UFOs, where military pilots fear ridicule or job sanctions if they report them, UFOs are now characterized by the U.S. government as UAPs, or unidentified anomalous phenomena.

Bottom line: The study team found no evidence that reported UAP observations are extraterrestrial.

I’m a professor of astronomy who has written extensively on astrobiology and the scientists who search for life in the universe. I have long been skeptical of the claim that UFOs represent visits by aliens to Earth.

Representative Megan Cotter: RI needs new path for forest stewardship

Exeter wildfire sparked new initiative to improve forest management

STEVE AHLQUIST

On September 13, Representative Megan Cotter (Democrat, District 39, Exeter, Richmond, Hopkinton) held the first meeting of her Special Legislative Commission to Evaluate and Provide Recommendations on Proper Forest Management for Fire Prevention.

Representative Cotter provided the following op-ed to explain her new commission:

“54 percent of Rhode Island is forested, which is impressive considering it’s the second-most densely populated state in the nation. It’s also quite a resurgence; by the mid-1700s, settlers’ agriculture had reduced tree cover in the area to just 31 percent, down from 95 percent before their arrival a century earlier.

“While Rhode Island has long recognized the value of forests, establishing its Forest Commission back in 1906, today we are not giving forest stewardship the priority it deserves.

“This is evident in the increasing frequency and severity of forest fires. In April, 350 acres were scorched by a wildfire that began in Queen’s River Preserve in Exeter. Fortunately, no one was hurt and no homes caught fire, thanks to the great work of many local firefighters, but it was Rhode Island’s largest forest fire since 1942. And it was less than a week after another fire burned more than 150 acres at the Big River Management Area in West Greenwich. Several smaller forest fires also burned that week, fueled by dry conditions and dead wood.

Don't need no stinkin' proof!

Doubtful 2024 will be better

Be upstanding for the Pirate National Anthem on Talk Like a Pirate Say

 

New Vaccine Can Completely Reverse Autoimmune Diseases

Like Multiple Sclerosis, Type 1 Diabetes, and Crohn’s Disease

By UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 

From the MS Society

Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) have developed a novel vaccine that, in laboratory tests, can completely reverse autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, and Crohn’s disease — all without shutting down the rest of the immune system.

A typical vaccine teaches the human immune system to recognize a virus or bacteria as an enemy that should be attacked. The new “inverse vaccine” does just the opposite: it removes the immune system’s memory of one molecule. 

While such immune memory erasure would be unwanted for infectious diseases, it can stop autoimmune reactions like those seen in multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, or Crohn’s disease, in which the immune system attacks a person’s healthy tissues.

What unions actually deliver

Treasury Department releases first-of-its-kind report on benefits of unions to the US economy

By Pete Marchese

The Treasury Department today is releasing its most comprehensive ever look at the role that labor unions play in the American economy with a new report by the Department’s Office of Economic Policy. 

The report represents one of the over 70 actions implemented by the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, chaired by Vice President Harris. 

The report finds that unions play an important role in addressing longstanding challenges faced by the middle class – including stagnant wages, high housing costs, and reduced intergenerational mobility.  In doing so, unions contribute to a more robust and resilient economy.

President Biden, Vice President Harris, Secretary Yellen and the Administration have consistently championed the rights of workers and the role of strong labor unions in contributing to a thriving middle-class and economy – including through good-paying jobs, safe working conditions, and equitable treatment for workers. 

The report’s key findings are:

Hate-filled trolls

Trump and Musk mark Rosh Hashanah with antisemitism 

By Laura Clawson for Daily Kos

Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, was celebrated over the weekend. In the cases of Donald Trump and entrepreneur Elon Musk, it was celebrated with grossly antisemitic social media posts. 

The two men took significantly different approaches to antisemitism, with Trump reposting on Truth Social a direct and sustained attack on “liberal Jews,” while Musk tweeted an extreme version of a classic antisemitic dog whistle.

These attacks don’t happen in isolation. Antisemitic incidents rose in 2022 in the U.S., following a global rise in such incidents in 2021, which subsequently abated in many other countries but not here.

Trump didn’t bother with pretending he was doing anything but talking about Jewish people, posting a graphic offering “a reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives! Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward!” 

As a capper, it added, “Happy New Year!” before listing all the supposed positives liberal Jews had overlooked when they didn’t vote for Trump. Since it’s unlikely Trump read the fine print on the graphic, it’s not worth looking too deeply into the politics on display, but suffice it to say, the argument is thoroughly in line with the antisemitic premise that Jewish people in the U.S. are, or should be, more concerned with Israel than with the U.S. 

When it comes to Trump, the important thing is that he chose to mark Rosh Hashanah with an antisemitic attack suggesting that Jews who didn’t vote for him were voting to “destroy America & Israel.”