The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly in RI (11/22/19)

By Nancy Thomas, editor

THE GOOD

RI Democratic Party

A step in the right direction. Unifying the Democratic Party, both at a local level and a national level should be the over-riding goal of all elected Democrats at the state level. Fractioning the party – and trying to win a battle – the Women’s Caucus preferred to position a progressive and “elect women” platform over all else – and now, instead of working toward a closer seat at the table, they are literally outside the building, sitting on the sidewalk. Having caucuses speaking on their own, raising their own money, etc. leads to chaos for any organized political party, much less one already split between progressives and moderates. The stakes are too high for antics. Is it “paternity” of the party that needs to be over taken or is it unity that needs to come forward? And that means you don’t win every battle all the time.  Perhaps party chair McNamara had the best quote of the week – “This is not the Jerry Springer Show”. The women’s group says will move on to form their own independent group. The vote of the party was 122 to 37 – an overwhelming majority. Time to move on.

The Urban Education Coalition

Rhode Island’s five urban districts – Pawtucket, Woonsocket, Newport, Central Falls and East Providence announced at a forum at Bryant University on Monday, that they are banding together under an umbrella, the Urban Education Coalition. We can only see good things ahead for this decision.

Impeachment Part 1

Seems to be winding down – hopefully the Senate side will fast-track their role and we can wrap this up before Christmas. If impeachment is not successful what will the next strategy be for the Resistance effort?

THE BAD

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu

Indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, etc. The US is trying this and trying that to help Israel stabilize, but this indictment jeopardizes the upcoming election and may further throw the country and US-Israeli relations into chaos. All this happened while Governor Raimondo was in Israel on a business development trip.

Super-Bugs

Going in for a routine test, and ending up with a life-threatening, antibiotic resistant bug – you hear stories about this all the time. Word is it’s because we have given antibiotics to people for everything – and when we feel better we simply don’t finish the entire prescription. Some newline antibiotics are available for preventive measures – but, often, these new antibiotics are expensive and can be denied by insurance as ‘not necessary’. A week in a hospital, expensive IV treatment, and considerable at-home down time from work, leaving you with a tendency towards it happening again. Not good. Leaves one rethinking standard lifesaving tests these days – who wants to get sicker from the test than from what it might be testing for?

Christmas Tree Shortage

Our Christmas trees are showing us the long term results of the recession, as farms closed and demand waned, fewer trees are now available, and they will cost us more. Instead of buying artificial, it’s time to rally behind the growers and buy fresh Christmas trees this year, albeit for up to $10 more, and help restore the industry.

THE UGLY

Nooses are no joke

To the RI DPW workers who, inexplicably, thought putting a noose in a truck used by a black co-worker was funny and have now paid with their jobs. One had worked there for over 20 years. Another about a year. The silver lining will be, if Providence can be trusted to implement it, citywide racial diversity awareness training. The sooner the better. It’s been needed for a long time.

Vaping

Daily we write stories about the dangers of vaping and e-cigarettes. Now we have some RI schools using handheld metal detectors to uncover the contraband devices and supplies. While school committees “were sad” to have to take these steps, the stakes were just too high not to use all the tools they can to help save lives of these young people.