"This finding adds strength to the rapidly accumulating evidence that a
pregnant woman’s intake of fluoride similar to that from artificially
fluoridated water can cause a large loss of IQ in the offspring."
Authors of US-funded fluoride-IQ study strengthen their landmark findings
Introduction.
From the day it was published (Sept 19, 2017) the Fluoride Action Network has been drawing attention to the US-government funded (National Institutes of Health) Bashash et al. study. This 12- year mother-child study found a strong correlation between the levels of fluoride exposure during pregnancy and lowered IQ in their offspring at 4 and 6-12 years of age.
Last week, at a conference on environmental epidemiology in Germany, members of this same research team announced additional findings that confirm and strengthen their original report (announced). Very young children, age 1-3 years, also show loss of IQ. In other words, their study now covers the ages of the offspring from one to twelve years.
For the age of 1- 3 years, for every 1 mg/L increase in the urine fluoride level of their pregnant mothers, the children averaged 2.4 points lower IQ scores. The finding was statistically significant and accounted for potential confounding factors.
Thomas et al., concluded “Our findings add to our team’s recently published report on prenatal fluoride and cognition at ages 4 and 6–12 years [the Bashash et al 2017 paper] by suggesting that higher in utero exposure to F has an adverse impact on offspring cognitive development that can be detected earlier, in the first three years of life.”
This finding adds strength to the rapidly accumulating evidence that a pregnant woman’s intake of fluoride similar to that from artificially fluoridated water can cause a large loss of IQ in the offspring.
The study was conducted in Mexico City and had over 400 mother-child pairs. Fluoridated salt is the main source of fluoride exposure in Mexico City. It is designed to give the same intake of fluoride as fluoridated water. Mexico City drinking water fluoride is mostly low. To get an estimate of total fluoride intake in the women and fluoride exposure to the fetus, the researchers measured the mother’s urine fluoride levels during pregnancy. The levels were indeed in the same range as has been found in pregnant women in fluoridated New Zealand [Brough et al 2015] and in adults in other countries with fluoridated water. There is no question that the intake of fluoride in this study is similar to and directly applicable to intakes in countries with artificial fluoridation.
Michael Connett, JD , who is heading up the Fluoride Action Network’s legal challenge calling on the EPA to ban the deliberate addition of fluoride to the drinking water under provisions in the Toxic Substance and Control Act (TSCA) said that,
“This new finding from NIH's fluoride/IQ study further strengthens the evidence of fluoride’s neurotoxicity. The fluoride levels at issue in the study are within the range that pregnant women in the U.S. will receive, so the findings are clearly relevant to our ongoing case against the EPA.”
My Name is Paul H Cosentino. I started this Blog in 2011 because of what I believe to be wrongdoings in town government. This Blog is to keep the citizens of Templeton informed. It is also for the citizens of Templeton to post their comments and concerns.
Friday, March 30, 2018
ATLAS Shrugged
Mass. RMV offices slowed by transition to new software
By
Brian Lee
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Posted Mar 27, 2018 at 8:35 PM
Updated Mar 27, 2018 at 9:30 PM
WORCESTER - Vermont transplant Shad Orechovesky figured a trip to the
Registry of Motor Vehicles on Main Street on “a random Tuesday morning”
wouldn’t have him waiting too long for a new driver’s license.
Mr. Orechovesky couldn’t have been more wrong.
He said he waited a whopping four hours to complete the transaction.
The smile on Mr. Orechovesky’s face belied the excessive wait.
“I wasn’t really expecting to be here for four hours,” he said. “It was long. I’m on vacation this week, so I figured I might as well get it out of the way.”
Delays have been reported at RMV offices throughout the state after the agency’s switch over the weekend to a new computer system.
The new system, called ATLAS, began to offer driver’s licenses and identification cards that comply with a new federal security standard.
As a result of the change, customers have to bring more documents, including proof of U.S. citizenship or their lawful presence in the U.S.
U.S. citizens are forced to present a valid, unexpired U.S. passport or a certified copy of their U.S. birth certificate.
Permanent residents need to bring a valid permanent resident card, or green card.
Mr. Orechovesky said he needed a new license because he will be in the Worcester area for a while.
He brought his passport, his Vermont driver’s license, W-2 forms, bank statements, and, thankfully, a book to read.
He was asked to compare his RMV experience here to the Green Mountain State’s Department of Motor Vehicles.
“It’s an hour, tops,” he said of wait times in Vermont. “Even at the DMV in Montpelier, the state capital, it’s nothing like in there.”
Jacqueline Gill of Marlboro cursed as she described her experience at the RMV Tuesday.
Ms. Gill sought to renew her driver’s license, but said she was turned away because she didn’t bring all the required documents. She said she will need the REAL ID driver’s license because she has to enter federal buildings for work.
Ms. Gill said she didn’t bring a Social Security card, birth certificate and proof of where she lives, requirements she called “BS.”
Mr. Orechovesky couldn’t have been more wrong.
He said he waited a whopping four hours to complete the transaction.
The smile on Mr. Orechovesky’s face belied the excessive wait.
“I wasn’t really expecting to be here for four hours,” he said. “It was long. I’m on vacation this week, so I figured I might as well get it out of the way.”
Delays have been reported at RMV offices throughout the state after the agency’s switch over the weekend to a new computer system.
The new system, called ATLAS, began to offer driver’s licenses and identification cards that comply with a new federal security standard.
As a result of the change, customers have to bring more documents, including proof of U.S. citizenship or their lawful presence in the U.S.
U.S. citizens are forced to present a valid, unexpired U.S. passport or a certified copy of their U.S. birth certificate.
Mr. Orechovesky said he needed a new license because he will be in the Worcester area for a while.
He brought his passport, his Vermont driver’s license, W-2 forms, bank statements, and, thankfully, a book to read.
He was asked to compare his RMV experience here to the Green Mountain State’s Department of Motor Vehicles.
“It’s an hour, tops,” he said of wait times in Vermont. “Even at the DMV in Montpelier, the state capital, it’s nothing like in there.”
Jacqueline Gill of Marlboro cursed as she described her experience at the RMV Tuesday.
Ms. Gill sought to renew her driver’s license, but said she was turned away because she didn’t bring all the required documents. She said she will need the REAL ID driver’s license because she has to enter federal buildings for work.
Ms. Gill said she didn’t bring a Social Security card, birth certificate and proof of where she lives, requirements she called “BS.”
Oblivious anti-gun students demand government take away their rights
Oblivious anti-gun students demand government take away their rights… then they FREAK OUT when government takes away their rights
03/26/2018 / By Mike Adams
A strange thing happened as I was about to write this article today. I was planning on writing how the delusional anti-gun students who are currently demanding the government take away the Second Amendment rights of all Americans are now totally freaking out over a new, draconian rule that requires them all to carry transparent backpacks.
Y’know, so that school administrators can make sure all the young men are carrying the appropriate number of feminine hygiene products, since they’ve all been turned into
gay frogsfeminized metrosexuals. That’s why delusional Leftists now demand tampon dispensing machines in men’s restrooms on college campus, right?
This backpack transparency requirement, say the hysterical anti-gun students, is a violation of their constitutional rights.
Wait, you mean liberties and rights count now, all of a sudden? I mean, especially when they’re the rights YOU care about? You mean to tell me that when YOU want privacy and liberty, all of a sudden the government should stay out of your business?
Jeesh. Imagine the collective sound of empty skulls hitting desks all across Florida schools, and you get the idea of the harsh reckoning that’s striking home right about now as these young libtards suddenly realize their demands might actually impact their own lives, not just the lives of gun-toting ranchers trying to make a living somewhere else.
The funny thing that happened on this topic, though, is that as I began writing the story, I found out that The Free Thought Project already wrote almost exactly the story I was about to write. No coordination needed, no central planning, no conspiracy, nothing. Just two different publishers arriving at the same conclusion about a hilarious development in the delusional thinking of fascists-in-training, also known as authoritaritards. (Yes, I just made that up, along with this highly inappropriate joke: What do you call an armed security guard protecting children who hate guns? Answer: An authoritaritardian guardian.)
A strange thing happened as I was about to write this article today. I was planning on writing how the delusional anti-gun students who are currently demanding the government take away the Second Amendment rights of all Americans are now totally freaking out over a new, draconian rule that requires them all to carry transparent backpacks.
Y’know, so that school administrators can make sure all the young men are carrying the appropriate number of feminine hygiene products, since they’ve all been turned into
This backpack transparency requirement, say the hysterical anti-gun students, is a violation of their constitutional rights.
Wait, you mean liberties and rights count now, all of a sudden? I mean, especially when they’re the rights YOU care about? You mean to tell me that when YOU want privacy and liberty, all of a sudden the government should stay out of your business?
Jeesh. Imagine the collective sound of empty skulls hitting desks all across Florida schools, and you get the idea of the harsh reckoning that’s striking home right about now as these young libtards suddenly realize their demands might actually impact their own lives, not just the lives of gun-toting ranchers trying to make a living somewhere else.
The funny thing that happened on this topic, though, is that as I began writing the story, I found out that The Free Thought Project already wrote almost exactly the story I was about to write. No coordination needed, no central planning, no conspiracy, nothing. Just two different publishers arriving at the same conclusion about a hilarious development in the delusional thinking of fascists-in-training, also known as authoritaritards. (Yes, I just made that up, along with this highly inappropriate joke: What do you call an armed security guard protecting children who hate guns? Answer: An authoritaritardian guardian.)
Thursday, March 29, 2018
A nuclear dinosaur
A nuclear dinosaur
As the shutdown date for the Pilgrim nuclear power plant approaches, the 45-year-old facility in Plymouth is coughing and wheezing all the way to the grave, and local officials and activists are worried the end – and afterlife – will be problematic.
Pilgrim’s most recent problems occurred during the recent storms when, first, the owners did not shut the plant down even though the ability to evacuate should a problem occur was compromised by the weather. Plant officials did shut the reactor down leading up to the third storm, with a problem in the heating system, but when they went to restart, found a transformer needed to be replaced before turning the switch back on. It was just the latest problem to haunt the one-time reliable facility.
On Sunday, inspectors discovered a problem with a critical safety mechanism that is used to stop fission from occurring in the nuclear reactor. Officials discovered clamps on nine pipes used in a hydraulic system to control a shutdown and prevent nuclear fission were incorrectly installed. For the uninitiated, fission is the precursor to a meltdown.
“In an event such as an earthquake, the shaking could affect the pipes with the faulty clamps and result in a failure of the connected control rods to insert in Pilgrim’s reactor. Nuclear fission would then continue to occur,” the story says. “Operators might even have to resort to injecting a so-called ‘poison’ solution into the reactor to get nuclear fission to stop, according to Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The solution is made of a liquid boron. While plants are equipped with the backup pump system to ‘poison’ neutrons, it has yet to be used in the United States.”
The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 to be introduced!
The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 to be introduced!
Yesterday Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his intention to introduce "The Hemp Farming Act of 2018", adding a powerful voice for Hemp on the Hill!
NHA chairman Geoff Whaling celebrates the announcement made by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to introduce bipartisan legislation. Whaling said, "This commitment by McConnell brings the industrial hemp crop to the forefront of discussion across America”
As a founding member of the US Hemp Round Table, we are pleased to share their press release.
FRANKFORT – The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, the industry association that joins the nation’s leading hemp companies and all of its major grassroots organizations, today lauded U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell upon his announcement of the pending introduction of “The Hemp Farming Act of 2018.” Leader McConnell’s bill, which is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY), would permanently remove hemp from regulation as a controlled substance and treat it as an agricultural commodity. Similar legislation, H.R. 3530, the “Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017,” was introduced last year by Rep. James Comer (R-KY), and has been co-sponsored by 43 of his colleagues, from both sides of the aisle.
“The hemp industry is very grateful to Leader McConnell for his strong leadership over the years on behalf of providing Kentucky farmers – and the whole U.S. agricultural commodity – this exciting new economic opportunity,” stated Roundtable President Brian Furnish, an 8th generation tobacco farmer from Cynthiana, who credits the Leader with empowering his transition from tobacco to
Yesterday Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced his intention to introduce "The Hemp Farming Act of 2018", adding a powerful voice for Hemp on the Hill!
NHA chairman Geoff Whaling celebrates the announcement made by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to introduce bipartisan legislation. Whaling said, "This commitment by McConnell brings the industrial hemp crop to the forefront of discussion across America”
As a founding member of the US Hemp Round Table, we are pleased to share their press release.
FRANKFORT – The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, the industry association that joins the nation’s leading hemp companies and all of its major grassroots organizations, today lauded U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell upon his announcement of the pending introduction of “The Hemp Farming Act of 2018.” Leader McConnell’s bill, which is co-sponsored by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rand Paul (R-KY), would permanently remove hemp from regulation as a controlled substance and treat it as an agricultural commodity. Similar legislation, H.R. 3530, the “Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2017,” was introduced last year by Rep. James Comer (R-KY), and has been co-sponsored by 43 of his colleagues, from both sides of the aisle.
“The hemp industry is very grateful to Leader McConnell for his strong leadership over the years on behalf of providing Kentucky farmers – and the whole U.S. agricultural commodity – this exciting new economic opportunity,” stated Roundtable President Brian Furnish, an 8th generation tobacco farmer from Cynthiana, who credits the Leader with empowering his transition from tobacco to
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Weekend anti-gun protests in D.C., like previous Left-wing demonstrations, generate tons of trash for others to clean up
Weekend anti-gun protests in D.C., like previous Left-wing demonstrations, generate tons of trash for others to clean up
Monday, March 26, 2018 by: JD HeyesTags: Alt-Left, anti-gun, badpollution, demonstrators, environ, environmentalism, environmentalist Left, hypocrisy, left cult, march for our lives, Marxists, protestors, protests, trash, Washington DC
(Natural News) Left-leaning Americans like to lecture everyone about how environmentally aware they are, but sometimes other things are more important than clean and green.
Like guns or, more specifically, protesting guns.
As you may have heard, tens of thousands of people showed up in Washington, D.C., on Saturday to demand that something is done about firearms — not the people who misuse them for deadly purposes.
In the wake of those protests, demonstrators left mountains of trash and garbage — signs, water bottles, food containers, and various other things — behind for local trash collectors paid for local taxpayers to clean up.
“Thousands of protestors at March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C., Saturday packed the streets holding signs promoting an anti-gun agenda, but many of them left those signs out in the cold after the march,” Breitbart News documented in a report the following day accompanied by lots of photos.
“The signs that the self-described socially conscious protestors held up high during the march, along with countless other items of trash, were littered on the streets of D.C. like old rags,” the site noted further.
Indeed, the accompanying photos showed mountains of trash piled up by city workers after the protestors had all gone home. Many of the protest signs were hand-made, but scores of others were obviously pre-printed and came from any number of Democratic National Committee-aligned groups.
“Cardboard signs bearing messages such as “My dress code is stricter than your gun laws,” and signs demanding that no money be sent to the pro-gun National Rifle Association were tossed aside like yesterday’s news,” Breitbart reported.
In addition to tossing their signs on the ground, many ‘environmentalist’ protestors also discarded food and beverages, along with food containers.
But by a long shot, this wasn’t the first time the ‘environmentally conscious’ Left created havoc — and a massive mess — during protests. (Related: Exposed: Anti-gun teachers, along with Pravda media, exploiting students of Parkland, Florida shooting.)
Grid security falls to industry to self-regulate
Grid security falls to industry to self-regulate
- By Christian M. Wade Statehouse Reporter
A cyber attack against the grid could do as much damage as a bomb, experts say, cutting off electricity to hospitals, banks and other assets, disabling devices from cellphones to traffic lights, and threatening lives if heating and air conditioning systems are cut off long enough.
Regional utilities like National Grid, Eversource and Unitil are upgrading their physical infrastructure and computer systems to deal with the increasing threats from hackers, but remain tight-lipped about how much they are spending or where the money is being invested.
Federal and state regulators set guidelines for utilities to report physical and cyber attacks, but the industry is largely allowed to develop its own policies and security plans for dealing with the threats, which are kept under wraps.
“Basically, the attitude so far has been to let the market deal with it,” said Juliette Kayyem, a national security expert and former assistant secretary at Homeland Security under President Barack Obama. “But this is a national security imperative, which requires government resolve.”
'Public deserves to know'
Kayyem said the lack of state and federal government standards on grid security is putting the public at risk.
“This is ‘finger’s crossed’ or ‘trust us’ policy,” she said. “We don’t do that with the telecom or nuclear industries, so why would we do it with the power grid?”
Police vs Fire Blood Drive Saturday March 31, 2018
Police vs Fire Blood Drive
Hello all,
Baldwinville Community and the American Red Cross are hosting an upcoming blood drive.
Please join our lifesaving mission and schedule an appointment today!
Drive Details:
Site: Templeton Senior Center
Address: 16 Senior Drive (GPS 79 Bridge St.), Baldwinville, MA, 01436
Room Name: Dining Hall
Date: Sat Mar 31, 2018
Time: 8:00: AM - 1:00: PM
Coordinator Name: Gary A Beaton
Coordinator Phone Number:
Click here to make an appointment
This Saturday is the second annual Battle of the Badges blood drive between the Templeton Police Department and Templeton Fire Department. Come show your support for your favorite department to see who gets to hoist the custom trophy in their department! Please make your appointment to donate blood! We are looking for 20 more appointments so we can hit our goal of 40 pints!
The need for blood is constant and only volunteer donors can fulfill that need for patients in our community. Nationwide, someone needs a unit of blood every 2 to 3 seconds and most of us will need blood in our lifetime.
Thank you for supporting the American Red Cross blood program!
Download the Red Cross Blood Donor App on the App Store, Google Play or text BLOODAPP to 90999. Schedule appointments, get rewards and invite friends to join you on a lifesaving team.
American Red Cross Blood Services - 431 18th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20006
Click here to unsubscribe from further mailings from American Red Cross Blood Services.
Baldwinville Community and the American Red Cross are hosting an upcoming blood drive.
Please join our lifesaving mission and schedule an appointment today!
Drive Details:
Site: Templeton Senior Center
Address: 16 Senior Drive (GPS 79 Bridge St.), Baldwinville, MA, 01436
Room Name: Dining Hall
Date: Sat Mar 31, 2018
Time: 8:00: AM - 1:00: PM
Coordinator Name: Gary A Beaton
Coordinator Phone Number:
Click here to make an appointment
This Saturday is the second annual Battle of the Badges blood drive between the Templeton Police Department and Templeton Fire Department. Come show your support for your favorite department to see who gets to hoist the custom trophy in their department! Please make your appointment to donate blood! We are looking for 20 more appointments so we can hit our goal of 40 pints!
The need for blood is constant and only volunteer donors can fulfill that need for patients in our community. Nationwide, someone needs a unit of blood every 2 to 3 seconds and most of us will need blood in our lifetime.
Thank you for supporting the American Red Cross blood program!
Download the Red Cross Blood Donor App on the App Store, Google Play or text BLOODAPP to 90999. Schedule appointments, get rewards and invite friends to join you on a lifesaving team.
American Red Cross Blood Services - 431 18th St. NW, Washington, DC, 20006
Click here to unsubscribe from further mailings from American Red Cross Blood Services.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Trouble in Paradise?
No action taken on charges against Phillipston administrative assistant; All found to be baseless
Phillipston Administrative Assistant Kevin Flynn (inset, right) sits
with town counsel Brian Maser of KP Law during an executive session
Monday night. Below, the selectmen, John Telepciak (foreground),
chairman Tom Brouillet (middle) and Terry Dymek read over three charges
brought against Flynn. ATHOL DAILY NEWS/Deborrah Porter
By DEBORRAH PORTER
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
PHILLIPSTON — Three charges brought against town Administrative
Assistant Kevin Flynn were found to be unsubstantiated, and no action
was taken by the Selectboard during an open executive session.
The charges brought against Flynn by Thomas Brouillet, chairman of the Selectboard, who sought to “relieve Mr. Flynn from his duties as administrative assistant” were for the following reasons:
Scheduling of a meeting between the Town of Templeton and the Phillipston Finance Committee relative to regional dispatch services for the upcoming fiscal year;
The posting of an agenda item pertaining to contract negotiations with a firefighter;
Contacting Town Counsel without authorization from the Selectboard.
Flynn chose to hold the executive session in open meeting. Nearly 20 residents, including Town Hall employees, the police chief and another police officer, filled the room in support of Flynn. Attorney Brian Maser of KP Law (formerly Kopleman & Paige) was present and conveyed to the individuals in the audience they had a right to be present, but could not speak out or interrupt the proceedings.
Brouillet announced that he would not allow anyone in the audience to comment or ask questions.
Because Brouillet filed the complaint, Flynn requested of him, as chairman, to turn over the meeting to the vice-chairman Terry Dymek. Brouillet refused, and an audience member said loudly,
“Oh, give me a break! He brought the charges!”
Brouillet invited her to leave the meeting, but she remained seated. Brouillet read the notice of executive session and was asked repeatedly to speak up. Opal Clark asked if there were copies of the notice printed out. Brouillet said “no,” he didn’t expect people to be at the session. Clark asked to see what’s on the notice and a town employee made copies to distribute.
The complaints Each complaint was addressed in order.
Brouillet said Phillipston had been after Templeton to come forward with a breakdown of the costs for regional dispatch services for the upcoming fiscal year.
“We needed it for the first of March. They gave a dollar amount. I said we were all set and I would bring that amount to Athol. He (Flynn) goes behind my back and schedules a meeting, and when I asked why, he said the FinCom wanted it. It’s insubordination,” Brouillet said.
He said he talked to Flynn on the phone and said they didn’t need a meeting, that he was going to bring what he had to Athol.
Flynn said there were a series of requests involved and a number of times they talked about scheduling a meeting. He referred to his daily agenda used to document actions taken throughout the day. On Feb. 6, there was a joint meeting with the Templeton FinCom to set up a committee to review the budget numbers. On Feb. 7, Brouillet asked about scheduling a meeting. The following day, Brouillet said he wanted a meeting at a different point, because of a schedule conflict. A week later, Brouillet was in the selectmen’s office to sign warrants and asked repeatedly about a meeting. That Friday, March 2, Brouillet was told Templeton sent in the breakdown of figures that were requested, one day later than expected.
The charges brought against Flynn by Thomas Brouillet, chairman of the Selectboard, who sought to “relieve Mr. Flynn from his duties as administrative assistant” were for the following reasons:
Scheduling of a meeting between the Town of Templeton and the Phillipston Finance Committee relative to regional dispatch services for the upcoming fiscal year;
The posting of an agenda item pertaining to contract negotiations with a firefighter;
Contacting Town Counsel without authorization from the Selectboard.
Flynn chose to hold the executive session in open meeting. Nearly 20 residents, including Town Hall employees, the police chief and another police officer, filled the room in support of Flynn. Attorney Brian Maser of KP Law (formerly Kopleman & Paige) was present and conveyed to the individuals in the audience they had a right to be present, but could not speak out or interrupt the proceedings.
Brouillet announced that he would not allow anyone in the audience to comment or ask questions.
Because Brouillet filed the complaint, Flynn requested of him, as chairman, to turn over the meeting to the vice-chairman Terry Dymek. Brouillet refused, and an audience member said loudly,
“Oh, give me a break! He brought the charges!”
Brouillet invited her to leave the meeting, but she remained seated. Brouillet read the notice of executive session and was asked repeatedly to speak up. Opal Clark asked if there were copies of the notice printed out. Brouillet said “no,” he didn’t expect people to be at the session. Clark asked to see what’s on the notice and a town employee made copies to distribute.
The complaints Each complaint was addressed in order.
Brouillet said Phillipston had been after Templeton to come forward with a breakdown of the costs for regional dispatch services for the upcoming fiscal year.
“We needed it for the first of March. They gave a dollar amount. I said we were all set and I would bring that amount to Athol. He (Flynn) goes behind my back and schedules a meeting, and when I asked why, he said the FinCom wanted it. It’s insubordination,” Brouillet said.
He said he talked to Flynn on the phone and said they didn’t need a meeting, that he was going to bring what he had to Athol.
Flynn said there were a series of requests involved and a number of times they talked about scheduling a meeting. He referred to his daily agenda used to document actions taken throughout the day. On Feb. 6, there was a joint meeting with the Templeton FinCom to set up a committee to review the budget numbers. On Feb. 7, Brouillet asked about scheduling a meeting. The following day, Brouillet said he wanted a meeting at a different point, because of a schedule conflict. A week later, Brouillet was in the selectmen’s office to sign warrants and asked repeatedly about a meeting. That Friday, March 2, Brouillet was told Templeton sent in the breakdown of figures that were requested, one day later than expected.
What happens when an algorithm cuts your health care
What happens when an algorithm cuts your health care
By Colin Lecher@colinlecher
Illustrations by William Joel; Photography by Amelia Holowaty Krales
For
most of her life, Tammy Dobbs, who has cerebral palsy, relied on her
family in Missouri for care. But in 2008, she moved to Arkansas, where
she signed up for a state program that provided for a caretaker to give
her the help she needed.
There, under a Medicaid waiver program, assessors
interviewed beneficiaries and decided how frequently the caretaker
should visit. Dobbs’ needs were extensive. Her illness left her in a
wheelchair and her hands stiffened. The most basic tasks of life —
getting out of bed, going to the bathroom, bathing — required
assistance, not to mention the trips to yard sales she treasured. The
nurse assessing her situation allotted Dobbs 56 hours of home care
visits per week, the maximum allowed under the program.
For years, she managed well. An aide arrived daily at
8AM, helped Dobbs out of bed, into the bathroom, and then made
breakfast. She would return at lunch, then again in the evening for
dinner and any household tasks that needed to be done, before helping
Dobbs into bed. The final moments were especially important: wherever
Dobbs was placed to sleep, she’d stay until the aide returned 11 hours
later.
Dobbs received regular reassessments of her needs, but
they didn’t worry her. She wouldn’t be recovering, after all, so it
didn’t seem likely that changes would be made to her care.
When an assessor arrived in 2016 and went over her
situation, it was a familiar process: how much help did she need to use
the bathroom? What about eating? How was her emotional state? The woman
typed notes into a computer and, when it was over, gave Dobbs a shocking
verdict: her hours would be cut, to just 32 per week.
Dobbs says she went “ballistic” on the woman. She
pleaded, explaining how that simply wasn’t enough, but neither of them,
Dobbs says, seemed to quite understand what was happening. Dobbs’
situation hadn’t improved, but an invisible change had occurred. When
the assessor entered Dobbs’ information into the computer, it ran
through an algorithm that the state had recently approved, determining
how many hours of help she would receive.
Other people around the state were also struggling to
understand the often drastic changes. As people in the program talked to
each other, hundreds of them complained that their most important
lifeline had been cut, and they were unable to understand why.
Algorithmic tools like the one Arkansas instituted in
2016 are everywhere from health care to law enforcement, altering lives
in ways the people affected can usually only glimpse, if they know
they’re being used at all. Even if the details of the algorithms are
accessible, which isn’t always the case, they’re often beyond the
understanding even of the people using them, raising questions about
what transparency means in an automated age, and concerns about people’s
ability to contest decisions made by machines.
Planning for the cut in care, Dobbs calculated what she
could do without, choosing between trips to church or keeping the house
clean. She had always dabbled in poetry, and later wrote a simple,
seven-stanza piece called “Hour Dilemma,” directed toward the state. She
wrote that institutionalization would be a “nightmare,” and asked the
state “to return to the human based assessment.”
Senate Prez Chandler Calls Massachusetts State Police OT Scandal Criminal; Duo Of MSP Retirees Accused Of Fraud ID’d
Senate Prez Chandler Calls Massachusetts State Police OT Scandal Criminal; Duo Of MSP Retirees Accused Of Fraud ID’d
By Evan Lips | March 22, 2018, 17:42 EDT
Massachusetts State Police Troop E Headquarters (Google Maps)
UPDATE (Friday 2:45 p.m.) Governor
Charlie Baker’s administration has cited the investigation launched by
Attorney General Maura Healey into allegations of State Police overtime
malfeasance as proof the governor considers the nature of the actions
criminal.
BOSTON — Senate President Harriette Chandler is going where Governor Charlie Baker has yet to tread regarding an explosive Massachusetts State Police report accusing more than 20 state troopers of doctoring their overtime filings to haul in paychecks for work they never did.
“They’re crimes, and it’s something that I assume that the proper authorities will deal with,” the Worcester Democrat told Jim Braude and Margery Eagan during an interview with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday.
Asked about the scandal earlier this week, Baker would only go as far as saying the troopers who participated in the scheme “should face the music,” and stopped short of calling the scheme to bilk taxpayers criminal.
Baker added that it should be up to the Massachusetts State Retirement Board as to whether the two state troopers who were allowed to retire amid an investigatory audit should receive full pensions. The audit that began at some point in the fall of 2017 — an exact date has not yet been confirmed — homed in on various members of Troop E, the outfit based out of the Boston Seaport known as the Ted Williams Tunnel Barracks that patrols the Massachusetts Turnpike, and focused on a program known as the Accident Incidence Reduction Effort (AIRE), which was aimed at identifying dangerous and aggressive drivers.
The audit focused on 2016 overtime filings.
State Police Superintendent Colonel Kerry Gilpin has said that the number of phantom shifts filed for by individual state troopers now facing duty hearings range from “as few as one to as high as one hundred.”
Baker appointed Gilpin to the post in November after the former superintendent, Lieutenant Colonel Richard McKeon, retired days after a state trooper named him and other top brass in a lawsuit alleging he had been unfairly targeted for discipline for including embarrassing and incriminating details in the arrest report of a prominent Worcester County judge’s daughter.
BOSTON — Senate President Harriette Chandler is going where Governor Charlie Baker has yet to tread regarding an explosive Massachusetts State Police report accusing more than 20 state troopers of doctoring their overtime filings to haul in paychecks for work they never did.
“They’re crimes, and it’s something that I assume that the proper authorities will deal with,” the Worcester Democrat told Jim Braude and Margery Eagan during an interview with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday.
Asked about the scandal earlier this week, Baker would only go as far as saying the troopers who participated in the scheme “should face the music,” and stopped short of calling the scheme to bilk taxpayers criminal.
Baker added that it should be up to the Massachusetts State Retirement Board as to whether the two state troopers who were allowed to retire amid an investigatory audit should receive full pensions. The audit that began at some point in the fall of 2017 — an exact date has not yet been confirmed — homed in on various members of Troop E, the outfit based out of the Boston Seaport known as the Ted Williams Tunnel Barracks that patrols the Massachusetts Turnpike, and focused on a program known as the Accident Incidence Reduction Effort (AIRE), which was aimed at identifying dangerous and aggressive drivers.
The audit focused on 2016 overtime filings.
State Police Superintendent Colonel Kerry Gilpin has said that the number of phantom shifts filed for by individual state troopers now facing duty hearings range from “as few as one to as high as one hundred.”
Baker appointed Gilpin to the post in November after the former superintendent, Lieutenant Colonel Richard McKeon, retired days after a state trooper named him and other top brass in a lawsuit alleging he had been unfairly targeted for discipline for including embarrassing and incriminating details in the arrest report of a prominent Worcester County judge’s daughter.
Monday, March 26, 2018
Meetings the Week of March 26, 2018
Meetings
the Week of March 26, 2018
Monday 3/26/18
Meeting Materials
Tuesday 3/27/18
Wednesday 3/28/18
Atlanta City Government Hit With Crippling Ransomware Attack
Atlanta City Government Hit With Crippling Ransomware Attack
by
Tyler Durden
Fri, 03/23/2018 - 22:25
In an unprecedented attack on the IT systems of a major municipal
government, hackers are demanding ransom payable in bitcoin after
seizing control of computers belonging to the Atlanta city government, AFP reports.
The ransomware assault shut down multiple internal and external applications for the city, including apps that people use to pay bills and access court-related information, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told a news conference Thursday.
The attack also impacted the city's emergency-response services - forcing dispatchers answering 911 calls to take down reports with a paper and pen
"This is a very serious situation," Bottoms said.
City officials said they learned of the attack before dawn Thursday when they detected unusual activity on their servers and discovered that some of the city's data had been encrypted without their consent.
Shortly after, the city government received a ransom note giving instructions for paying to free up files encrypted by the hackers.
The ransomware assault shut down multiple internal and external applications for the city, including apps that people use to pay bills and access court-related information, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told a news conference Thursday.
The attack also impacted the city's emergency-response services - forcing dispatchers answering 911 calls to take down reports with a paper and pen
"This is a very serious situation," Bottoms said.
City officials said they learned of the attack before dawn Thursday when they detected unusual activity on their servers and discovered that some of the city's data had been encrypted without their consent.
Shortly after, the city government received a ransom note giving instructions for paying to free up files encrypted by the hackers.
The hackers - perhaps having learned from the relatively small take
received during previous ransomware attacks like last year's infamous
"WannaCry" global assault - are demanding the city pay a relatively
modest ransom: Six bitcoins - or about $51,000.
Newsweek reports that a note provided to city officials included step-by-step instructions on how to pay. It linked to a website URL hosted on the dark web. But at a press conference led by Bottoms, officials told the public they are still assessing the extent of the attack.
Newsweek reports that a note provided to city officials included step-by-step instructions on how to pay. It linked to a website URL hosted on the dark web. But at a press conference led by Bottoms, officials told the public they are still assessing the extent of the attack.
"The City of Atlanta has experienced a ransomware cyberattack," confirmed chief operating officer Richard Cobbs during the briefing. This attack has encrypted some of the city data, however we are still validating the extent of the compromise."A statement released to the public read: "The City of Atlanta is currently experiencing outages on various internal and customer facing applications, including some applications that customers use to pay bills or access court-related information."
This antibiotic will ruin you.
This antibiotic will ruin you.
Posted on by mountainsandmustardseeds
Hi there, we need to talk. My name is Amy Moser. I have almost written this post at least 20 times and got too overwhelmed and abandoned it. Well here goes…
The antibiotics you took or are taking for your sinus infection, UTI, skin infection, laser eye surgery…ect…may have already damaged you.
Cipro, Levaquin, Avalox, nearly every generic ending in “quin”, “oxacin,””ox,”…are all part of a large family of antibiotics called “Fluoroquinolones.” The FDA finally updated their warning on these antibiotics as of July 2016. They site “multiple system damage that may be irreversible.
Permanent you guys. Here is the link for the warning if you are a doubting
Thomas: https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm500143.htm. Take a gander real quick if you are reading this with an eyebrow raised. Trust me, I wish I had been given the opportunity to soak up this information before it was too late.
In 2010, I took Cipro for a UTI and it changed my life forever. A round of antibiotics literally changed the path I was walking, into a path that I couldn’t even crawl on. Multiple spontaneous tendon and ligament ruptures, spinal degeneration, and arthritis that is widespread. We are talking multiple joint dislocations and surgeries to most of my large joints and spine. Twenty surgeries in the last 7 years if you wanna count. I said T W E N T Y. This class of antibiotics were supposed to be only used as a last resort antibiotics, if all other options had failed. They never were supposed to be given for common infections. They damage the body so seriously because they actually damage the mitochondrial DNA. Those affect all cell function. Fantastic. You now have tissue paper tendons and ligaments. You are a human piñata at a party and life is whacking you left and right. Do you know what it feels like to hear and feel your shoulder pull apart like taffy, or your achilles pop and tear apart like an old rubber band? It gets even better. Flouroquinolones cross the blood brain barrier. This can result in psychiatric events, depression, and suicidal thoughts. I was incredibly fortunate not to have the psychiatric side of this.
Here is another sickening truth…the damage is cumulative. The more exposures you have to these antibiotics, the more damage is done to your body. Not just for some people, ALL people. A hundred percent of people who take a Fluoroquinolone antibiotic, show changes in blood flow to the tendon, cartilage, and ligament in their bodies. Each person has a different breaking point depending on their own unique DNA. Some people fall apart or die after 1 pill. I fell apart after my 4th round of Fluoroquinolone antibiotics in my life and some people are on their 25th round and are still oblivious to what is happening inside them until they break. It might not even be a physical one. It may be a psychotic one. By then, it’s too late. The damage is done.
This was my nightmare. It gets worse. There is no cure. No treatment. No relief. No specialist even. I'm telling you…if it hadn’t been for the knowledge that God is ever present and with me…I would have walked out in front of a bus. He is the reason I am sane…well mostly.
I am writing this in hopes that you will educate yourself and your families. Don’t take that antibiotic in ignorance one more time. Don’t take your chances. Don’t be afraid to demand an alternative. You get only one life.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Selectman's Meeting MONDAY MARCH 26th
Upset about the "No events " Policy on Templeton Center Common?
Attend the Selectman's Meeting March 26, 2018 6:30 pm.
Krieger: The Only Reason We're Examining Facebook's Sleazy Behavior Is Because Trump Won
Krieger: The Only Reason We're Examining Facebook's Sleazy Behavior Is Because Trump Won
by
Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/22/2018 - 21:10
Authored by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
Trust me, there’s nobody more thrilled to see Facebook’s unethical and abusive practices finally getting the attention they deserve from mass media and members of the public who simply didn’t want to hear about it previously. I’ve written multiple articles over the years warning people about the platform (links at the end), but these mostly fell on deaf ears.
That’s just the way things go. All sorts of horrible behaviors can continue for a very long time before the corporate media and general public come around to caring. You typically need some sort of external event to change mass psychology. In this case, that event was Trump winning the election.
The more I read about the recent Facebook scandal, it’s clear this sort of thing’s been going on for a very long time. The major difference is this time the data mining was used by campaign consultants of the person who wasn’t supposed to win. Donald Trump.
To get a sense of what I mean, let’s take a look at some excerpts from a deeply troubling article recently published at the Guardian, ‘Utterly Horrifying’: Ex-Facebook Insider Says Covert Data Harvesting Was Routine:
Trust me, there’s nobody more thrilled to see Facebook’s unethical and abusive practices finally getting the attention they deserve from mass media and members of the public who simply didn’t want to hear about it previously. I’ve written multiple articles over the years warning people about the platform (links at the end), but these mostly fell on deaf ears.
That’s just the way things go. All sorts of horrible behaviors can continue for a very long time before the corporate media and general public come around to caring. You typically need some sort of external event to change mass psychology. In this case, that event was Trump winning the election.
The more I read about the recent Facebook scandal, it’s clear this sort of thing’s been going on for a very long time. The major difference is this time the data mining was used by campaign consultants of the person who wasn’t supposed to win. Donald Trump.
To get a sense of what I mean, let’s take a look at some excerpts from a deeply troubling article recently published at the Guardian, ‘Utterly Horrifying’: Ex-Facebook Insider Says Covert Data Harvesting Was Routine:
Hundreds of millions of Facebook users are likely to have had their private information harvested by companies that exploited the same terms as the firm that collected data and passed it on to Cambridge Analytica, according to a new whistleblower.
Sandy Parakilas, the platform operations manager at Facebook responsible for policing data breaches by third-party software developers between 2011 and 2012, told the Guardian he warned senior executives at the company that its lax approach to data protection risked a major breach…
Saturday, March 24, 2018
YOUTUBE CENSORSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT
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Millions of
Americans watch YouTube videos every day to learn more about the safe and responsible
use of firearms, and those videos show law-abiding gun owners participating
in lawful behavior. By banning this content, YouTube is engaging in
politically motivated censorship and alienating the millions of people who
turn to the website for education and training.
|
Something Templeton should consider...
Holyoke Council votes to ask Massachusetts Auditor Suzanne Bump to examine city finances
Updated ; Posted
HOLYOKE -- The City Council has voted to ask Massachusetts Auditor Suzanne M. Bump to do an audit of municipal finances.
The request for such an examination comes after jolts that have included:
Former city councilor Patricia C. Devine had urged councilors in an email to request that Bump audit city finances, and Ward 2 Councilor Nelson R. Roman filed the order.
"I am proud to have filed this order and believe this step is important because it will go a step further than the recent reconciliation (as) it will look into all city departments and budgets and provide the city with a written document or plan that will allow us to improve accountability and transparency, while improving performance and hopefully lead to Holyoke working more efficiently," Roman said in a text message.
"I am grateful that the Council approved this and that the mayor supports this matter," he said.
Morse told The Republican last month he agreed with the move to contact Bump's office.
The request for such an examination comes after jolts that have included:
- the Feb. 15 resignation of the city auditor and his criticism that City Hall was failing to follow numerous procedures
- police confirming Feb. 12 they are investigating a cyber attack that scammed $9,997 from the city treasurer's office in June
- the city having to hire a financial consultant that completed a $19.1 million reconciliation in the previous fiscal year's ledger that showed all municipal cash is accounted for
- the City Council and Mayor Alex B. Morse failing until Monday to reach agreement on financial transfers that allowed for the balancing of the budget, nine months into the fiscal year, and setting the new tax rate late. That will hit taxpayers with unusually large property tax bills late this month because they will combine the third- and fourth-quarter bills.
Former city councilor Patricia C. Devine had urged councilors in an email to request that Bump audit city finances, and Ward 2 Councilor Nelson R. Roman filed the order.
"I am proud to have filed this order and believe this step is important because it will go a step further than the recent reconciliation (as) it will look into all city departments and budgets and provide the city with a written document or plan that will allow us to improve accountability and transparency, while improving performance and hopefully lead to Holyoke working more efficiently," Roman said in a text message.
"I am grateful that the Council approved this and that the mayor supports this matter," he said.
Morse told The Republican last month he agreed with the move to contact Bump's office.
Friday, March 23, 2018
A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste
A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste
Fluoride Action Network | Bulletin | March 21, 2018
A mind is a terrible thing to waste*
The following is from a review of our Citizens Petition under the Toxic Control Substances ActAvailable evidence suggests that the following are all associated with IQ reductions:
- Daily fluoride doses
- Urine fluoride levels
- Serum fluoride levels, and
- Dental fluorosis levels
The 2017 US government-funded Bashash study certainly highlighted the importance of urine fluoride levels. Note this study followed 300 mother-child pairs and found that urine fluoride levels in the mothers – corresponding to fluoride levels experienced by adults in fluoridated communities in the USA- was associated with a 6 IQ point loss in their offspring.
Each of these four metrics of fluoride exposure provide a more direct assessment of individual fluoride exposure than water fluoride concentration and are thus more probative for risk assessment purposes.
In the study by Wang et al. the authors found a clear dose response relationship between daily fluoride dose and reduced IQ. When this data was quantified using standard techniques Hirzy et al. (2016) it showed that a dose of 1.4 mg/day lowered IQ by 5 IQ points. While the precise extent to which fluoridation is reducing IQ in the U.S. cannot yet be calculated, the dose-response data from Wang et al. (2012) (i.e. a dose of 1.4mg/day lowered IQ by 5 IQ points) using a simple linear extrapolation indicates that daily consumption of one liter of fluoridated water per day during childhood (at a recommended concentration of 0.7ppm would yield a dose of = 0.7mg F/day) would cause IQ to drop by an average of 2.5 points when compared to children with no exposure to fluoride, while consumption of half a liter per day (= 0.35 mg F/day) would cause IQ to drop by an average of 1.25 IQ points.
The Economic Cost of One IQ Point
To prevail in our TSCA lawsuit we have to show that fluoride in drinking water presents an “unreasonable neurotoxic risk” at current exposure levels. As far as the “reasonableness” discussion is concerned the EPA considers the benefits of reducing the risk with the costs of doing so. In considering these respective benefits and costs of risk reduction, EPA has stated it will take into account “the extent and magnitude of risk posed; the societal consequences of removing or restricting use of products; availability and potential hazards of substitutes, and impacts on industry, employment, and international trade. (Federal Register, Feb 27, 2017; see 8. Consequences of eliminating use of fluoridation chemicals.)There is little question that neurotoxicity is a serious insult to health. In a nation besieged by neurological disorders of poorly understood etiology, both in young children and the elderly, minimizing exposures to known neurotoxic substances should be a public health priority. Because of the massive extent of exposure to fluoridation chemicals in the U.S., even small effects on IQ will have very substantial economic consequences.
Studies have shown that even a loss of a single IQ point causes an average drop in lifetime earnings of $22,250 in current dollars. Since 200 million Americans now live in areas where water is fluoridated, and since virtually all Americans consume processed foods and beverages made with fluoridated water, any reduction in IQ from consumption of fluoride-treated water stands to have very large economic consequences.
In 2010, there were 74.2 million children under the age of 18 living in the U.S., of which we can estimate roughly 50 million were living in fluoridated areas. If we apply Wang’s dose-response data and assume that these 50 million children consumed between 0.5 to 1 liters of fluoridated water per day during childhood, fluoridation would have caused a loss of between 62.5 to 125 million IQ points, resulting in a total loss in lifetime earnings of between $13.9 to 27.8 trillion for this generation.
Japan Is So Broke That Its Prisons Are Full Of 80+ Year Old 'Felons'
Japan Is So Broke That Its Prisons Are Full Of 80+ Year Old 'Felons'
by
Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/22/2018 - 13:35
Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,
‘Mrs. F.’ was 84 years old the first time she ever went to prison.
Her crime? Petty shoplifting. She stole rice, strawberries, and cold medicine.
She served her time. Got released. Then shoplifted again so that she’d go back to prison.
She’s now 89 years old serving out another 2 ½ year sentence, not too far away from where I am right now, at a women’s prison about 60 miles outside of Tokyo.
She’s not the only one.
One in five female prisoners in Japan is senior, almost all of whom have been convicted of petty crimes like shoplifting.
This is no accident. Elderly women in Japan are economically vulnerable. Half live below the poverty line. Many live by themselves and have no one to turn to for help.
So there’s a growing trend in Japan of elderly women deliberately committing petty crimes– hoping to get caught so that they’ll be sent to prison.
In prison, of course, they’re fed, clothed, housed, and even have their health care covered by the state.
It’s a pitiful, last resort form of welfare that’s likely going to become worse as Japan’s already elderly population continues to age.
It’s also a sad example of what happens when a nation’s economy goes bust after a dangerous, explosive, unsustainable boom.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Japan was indomitable.
This country had pulled itself out of the ashes of the atomic bomb in World War II and set itself on a path to dazzling economic growth.
Within a few decades, Japan had become one of the wealthiest nations in the world. And by the 1970s, they began flexing that economic might.
If you’re old enough you might remember the Japanese scare, especially in the early 1980s, as Japanese companies were buying up huge chunks of US real estate, businesses, etc.
Japan had all the money… and it seemed like they were going to conquer the world.
The Japanese stock market was soaring. Japanese property prices were, by far, the most expensive on the planet.
Then it all went bust in the late 80s.
‘Mrs. F.’ was 84 years old the first time she ever went to prison.
Her crime? Petty shoplifting. She stole rice, strawberries, and cold medicine.
She served her time. Got released. Then shoplifted again so that she’d go back to prison.
She’s now 89 years old serving out another 2 ½ year sentence, not too far away from where I am right now, at a women’s prison about 60 miles outside of Tokyo.
She’s not the only one.
One in five female prisoners in Japan is senior, almost all of whom have been convicted of petty crimes like shoplifting.
This is no accident. Elderly women in Japan are economically vulnerable. Half live below the poverty line. Many live by themselves and have no one to turn to for help.
So there’s a growing trend in Japan of elderly women deliberately committing petty crimes– hoping to get caught so that they’ll be sent to prison.
In prison, of course, they’re fed, clothed, housed, and even have their health care covered by the state.
It’s a pitiful, last resort form of welfare that’s likely going to become worse as Japan’s already elderly population continues to age.
It’s also a sad example of what happens when a nation’s economy goes bust after a dangerous, explosive, unsustainable boom.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Japan was indomitable.
This country had pulled itself out of the ashes of the atomic bomb in World War II and set itself on a path to dazzling economic growth.
Within a few decades, Japan had become one of the wealthiest nations in the world. And by the 1970s, they began flexing that economic might.
If you’re old enough you might remember the Japanese scare, especially in the early 1980s, as Japanese companies were buying up huge chunks of US real estate, businesses, etc.
Japan had all the money… and it seemed like they were going to conquer the world.
The Japanese stock market was soaring. Japanese property prices were, by far, the most expensive on the planet.
Then it all went bust in the late 80s.
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