Natalie Andrus Fleming is a school psychologist based at the Asa Messer Elementary school in Providence. On Wednesday, September 16, the third day after schools partially reopened in Providence, one of two cities in RI that were not approved for full in-person reopening due to high COVID-19 rates, Fleming said she was directed to stop […]
Ruth Ben-Ghiat is a rare example of the fortunate academic whose subject matter, through no actions of her own, becomes of intense public interest. What she spent a career studying was the rise of Benito Mussolini, the early 20th Century radical who subverted the institutions of democracy to turn Italy into a dictatorship – and […]
In RI, during the COVID-19 emergency Gov. Gina Raimondo has limited informal social gatherings to no more than 15 people and in-person school classrooms to stable groups of no more than 30 students. Where do these numbers come from? The governor has described them as “judgment calls,” but she is not just arbitrarily picking numbers. […]
“Twindemic” is the trendy buzzword for the nightmare scenario in the medical community right now: seasonal influenza rampaging at the same time as the COVID-19 pandemic, two respiratory illnesses with similar symptoms – fever, headache, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, fatigue – stressing health care resources, especially hospital beds. “Getting vaccinated against the flu is […]
How deadly is COVID-19? How does it compare to seasonal flu? These are difficult and controversial questions. Above all, it should be emphasized that some sub-populations are definitely at much higher risk for bad outcomes if they become infected, such as people with compromised immune systems due to existing underlying illness or simply old age. […]
The live event scene, decimated for months by the COVID-19 shutdown of the economy, is holding a #RedAlertRESTART event on Tuesday, September 1, from 9pm to midnight, to illuminate the exteriors of publicly visible buildings with red light to draw attention to their desperate economic plight. “The hope is to get as many people involved […]
Slavery ended throughout the British Empire on “Emancipation Day,” August 1, 1834, when the Slavery Abolition Act came into force. Free Blacks in the United States began celebrating the anniversary as many had personal and community connections with the former slaves of the British West Indies, the Caribbean Islands (including Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, […]
“Rhode Island and Providence Plantations” has been the official full name of the state since the colonial era, created by the unification of the original “four towns,” which in order of their dates of founding were Providence (1636), Pocasset/Portsmouth (1638), Newport (1639), and Shawomet/Warwick (1642). In 1643/1644, the towns were combined under their current name […]
On July 8, we sent out the first printed issue of Motif since April 1, a hiatus of three months. The world changed: On April 1 at least half of the usual distribution points were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but on July 8 the state was a week into Phase 3 of reopening […]
As Rhode Island literally leads the nation in rate of decline for cases of COVID-19, Gov. Gina Raimondo moved forward with plans to enter Phase 3 of reopening the state economy on Tuesday, June 30. Depending upon criteria, Connecticut and New Jersey are in contention for second place, but everyone agrees RI is first. The […]