Dr. Judy Ho: Why Boredom is Good for You

 https://drjudyho.substack.com/p/why-boredom-is-actually-good-for

Dance Mania: It was on this day in 1374 in Aachen, Germany that an outbreak of dancing plague or dancing mania, also known as St. Vitus’ Dance, first began.

 It was on this day in 1374 in Aachen, Germany that an outbreak of dancing plague or dancing mania, also known as St. Vitus’ Dance, first began. From Aachen it spread across central Europe and as far away as England and Madagascar. Dancing mania affected groups of people — as many as thousands at a time — and caused them to dance uncontrollably for days, weeks, and even months until they collapsed from exhaustion. Some danced themselves to death, suffering heart attacks or broken hips and ribs. At the time, people believed the plague was the result of a curse from St. Vitus. Scientists now tend to believe it was due to ergot poisoning or mass hysteria.

Police: Five arres­ted in East School Street drug raid: “This is not a drug house it’s a drug home” was the inscrip­tion on a pil­low in Rodrig­uez’s bed­room, accord­ing to invest­ig­at­ors.

23 Jun 2026

WOONSOCKET – Five people were arres­ted in and around an East School Street tene­ment June 18 after a lengthy under­cover nar­cot­ics invest­ig­a­tion by mem­bers of the Woon­socket Police Depart­ment’s vice unit.

 

Jose R. Rodrig­uez, 60, of 606 East School St., is facing the most ser­i­ous charges after a phalanx of plain­clothes detect­ives, a K-9 unit and uni­formed police executed search war­rants for his apart­ment and motor vehicle around dawn. Invest­ig­at­ors said they found more than three ounces of crack cocaine and a lesser amount of methamphet­am­ine in Rodrig­uez’s bed­room and car, parked out­side.

 

He’s charged with pos­ses­sion with the intent to deliver a con­trolled sub­stance, cocaine, and pos­ses­sion of methamphet­am­ine, a power­ful speed-like drug men­tioned far more often in police reports than it used to be just a couple of years ago.

 

Also arres­ted was Mon­ica Shee­han, 49, a woman who lived at 606 E. School St. with Rodrig­uez and her 11-year-old son. Describ­ing the premises as a sort of retail mar­ket – replete with some tacky advert­ising – police seized her on charges of child neg­lect and child endan­ger­ment for allow­ing her son to be exposed to copi­ous amounts of drug paraphernalia and ongo­ing cus­tomer trans­ac­tions.

 

“This is not a drug house it’s a drug home” was the inscrip­tion on a pil­low in Rodrig­uez’s bed­room, accord­ing to invest­ig­at­ors.

 

Police said Shee­han denied know­ing the extent of any alleged drug traf­fick­ing on the premises. But her son’s bed­room was freely access­ible to that of Rodrig­uez, and the whole apart­ment was both messy and strewn with drug paraphernalia.

 

The boy’s bed­room had “dir­ect and unres­tric­ted access to needles, crack cocaine and crys­tal meth (none of which was locked up, secured, or well hid­den) and the boy was “con­stantly around drug users and drug trans­ac­tions,” a vice squad detect­ive’s report says.

 

In addi­tion to “approx­im­ately 10 cats and a dog,” the police also loc­ated three non-res­id­ents dur­ing the raid, all of whom were arres­ted for one reason or another.

 

They included Jen­nifer L. Lyon, 41, of 415 Black­stone St. Police said she was car­ry­ing a small amount of cocaine and was charged with pos­ses­sion of a con­trolled sub­stance.

 

Also, Gregory J. Gin­gras, 44, of 35 West Wrentham Road, Cum­ber­land, and Jef­frey A. Ozanian, 43, of 37 Cold Spring Place, were both arres­ted on unre­lated war­rants. The judi­ciary’s web site says Ozanian is on pro­ba­tion from a prior con­vic­tion for drug traf­fick­ing charges.

 

Vice squad reports do not elab­or­ate on how long the Rodrig­uez res­id­ence had been the focus of invest­ig­a­tion prior to the arrests. But a neigh­bor said the dwell­ing had become an ongo­ing nuis­ance in the neigh­bor­hood, draw­ing cus­tom­ers to the prox­im­ity of 606 East School St. to make sus­pec­ted nar­cot­ics trans­ac­tions. Some of the sales appar­ently took place out of Rodrig­uez’s car, where police found a sig­ni­fic­ant amount of the nar­cot­ics.

 

Rodrig­uez, Ozanian, Lyon and Gin­gras were actu­ally in the car when they arrived to execute the search war­rants, accord­ing to police.

George Johnson Jr: A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove. But the world may be different, because I was important in the life of a child.”

 source

What a Writer Needs: A Garden or a Dog

 https://avi-writer.com/blog/2026/06/2026_summer_blog_series_gary_d_schmidt/

In Worcester, a Ghanaian community ready to celebrate the World Cup

Emmanuel Larbi, right, owner of the Ghanaian restaurant Accra Girls, plays soccer with George Lamptey.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff

WORCESTER — There is a Ghanaian sporting villain who still furrows brows and brings forth heavy groans all these years later.

His name is Luis Suárez, and in 2010 his goal-line handball denied Ghana a score in the dying minutes of a World Cup quarterfinals match. Sixteen years later, the memory still sears in Worcester, home to one of the largest Ghanaian communities in the United States.

“Agonizing pain,” said Emmanuel Larbi, the 33-year-old owner of Accra Girls Restaurant, of the moment.

Inside his small takeout spot in a nondescript Grafton Street strip mall on Monday, other Ghanaians had similar tales of World Cup woe, describing mixture of anguish and shock. They all smile about it now on the eve of Ghana’s huge game against England.

Emmanuel Larbi, owner of the Ghanaian restaurant Accra Girls, with his mother, Sarah Larbi. Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff

Some recalled where they were when it happened: at home watching with relatives, at school, inside their mother’s hairbraiding shop, at a crowded bar in England. For Aminu Ben, a 34-year-old who works in construction, the result ruined his high school graduation.

“I just went home,” he said.

Such is the power of the World Cup. And in the tiny storefront Monday, as a mountain of steaming jollof and a pile of waakye are brought out to a buffet table before the start of the lunch rush, that is the focus.

Ben likes his team’s power and pace, but questions whether its finishing is sharp enough.

Another Ghanaian, George Lamptey, a 33-year-old financial analyst, is among those who think the national team reflects different facets of the country they represent. The resiliency of his countrymen can be seen in its hard-tackling defenders, he said. Others chime in that little things, like the smiles of the players and the dancing celebrations after a goal, reflect the cheery positivity of Ghana. Like several people here, Lamptey spent parts of his youth in both Worcester and Ghana.

“It’s just a moment of joy,” said Lamptey of the World Cup. “It’s a time people can come together and rally around something we can call our own. It’s something to hold onto.”

Certain themes emerge during the discussion in the shop. People agree that back in Ghana, the pace of life is slower than in the deadline-driven rat race that can be American life. People, they say, seem happier in the West African country of 35 million, even though many don’t have much. America, people here agree, is much more individualistic; in Ghana, the family and the community is the focus, they said.

There is talk of the immigrant experience, navigating two different cultures, and learning as a youth to assimilate in ways large and small, from how to dress to how to play American sports. Their parents worked in various industries to pay the bills, from accounting to sanitation to food catering.

Ben’s brother, Abass, 34, said he finds himself isolated at times in the United States, doing different day-to-day tasks alone.

“In Ghana, that almost never happens,” he said.

But there is also appreciation for the US. Everyone has the same explanation as to why their family moved here for better economic opportunities, the classic immigrant tale of chasing the American dream.

The City of Worcester does not track demographic statistics regarding how many of its residents claim Ghanaian ancestry, one City Hall spokesperson said. But at least one research firm estimates there are a little under 5,000 Ghanaians in Worcester, which would make it the fourth largest community of that diaspora in the US.

But some in the eatery think that number is low, pointing it out that it doesn’t account for all those who live outside the city limits in Worcester County. That number, they said, could easily top 30,000. The community is large enough to warrant a consulate on Worcester’s Park Avenue. 

Gifty Larbi works in her family’s Ghanaian restaurant, Accra Girls.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff

In terms of the soccer, the predictions and prognostications here are all over the map. Some say World Cup success for Ghana this time around would simply mean getting out of a group that includes European footballing powers England and Croatia. Others say, no, they have to make the quarterfinals. Yet others say the semifinals.

Ghana defeated Panama, 1-0, in its first group-stage game, a win described by some here as a satisfactory if inelegant victory.

Predictions for Tuesday’s game against England were varied. Some say a one-goal win for their Black Stars; others, like a man who identified himself as Lion King, would be satisfied with a draw against an England team studded with Premier League stars.

“It’s a high mountain to climb, but we are a robust people,” said the 50-year-old engineer after picking up tinfoiled containers filled with fried fish and tsofi, a turkey dish. “We’re here to conquer.”

Others mention that the historical backdrop of Ghana versus its former colonizer, England, has not been lost on Ghanaian social media, where it’s meme fodder. But is the rhetoric of colonial suppression simply jokey banter? Depends who you ask.

“It is but it isn’t,” said a grinning Aminu Ben. “It’s in the back of everyone’s mind.”

Added Lamptey, “It’s a joke until after the game, then we’ll see what happens.”

---

Danny McDonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com. Follow him @Danny__McDonald.

The worst thing about being an old rockstar is that the old rockstar's old fans don't know how to work their fucking phones.

 Nick Cave

THE GOOD VICES: Forget what you thought you knew about what’s healthy, and enjoy some good vices instead.

 Being healthy is easier, less expensive, and a whole lot more enjoyable than you think.

Much of the health advice we receive today tells us that in order to be healthy, we must consume a Spartan diet, exercise with the intensity of an Olympic athlete, and take a drug for every ailment. We constantly worry about the foods we should or shouldn’t be eating and the medical tests we have neglected to take. And all that worry costs us dearly–financially, emotionally, and physically.

In The Good Vices, prominent naturopathic physician Dr. Harry Ofgang and health journalist Erik Ofgang tear down decades of myth and prejudice to reveal how some of our guilty pleasures are not only okay but actually good for our health. For example:

Like wine, moderate beer and spirit consumption raises our bodies’ level of good cholesterol, which protects against heart disease.

Egg yolks are an excellent source of important fat-soluble vitamins.

Research suggests that moderate exercisers can be at least as healthy as, and sometimes even healthier than, those who exercise intensively.

Forget what you thought you knew about what’s healthy, and enjoy some good vices instead.

Ray Bradbury and Mr. Electrico from the Paris Review

Circuses and carnivals were always passing through Illinois during my childhood and I was in love with their mystery. One autumn weekend in 1932, when I was twelve years old, the Dill Brothers Combined Shows came to town. One of the performers was Mr. Electrico. He sat in an electric chair. A stagehand pulled a switch and he was charged with fifty thousand volts of pure electricity. Lightning flashed in his eyes and his hair stood on end.

 The next day, I had to go the funeral of one of my favorite uncles. Driving back from the graveyard with my family, I looked down the hill toward the shoreline of Lake Michigan and I saw the tents and the flags of the carnival and I said to my father, Stop the car. He said, What do you mean? And I said, I have to get out. My father was furious with me. He expected me to stay with the family to mourn, but I got out of the car anyway and I ran down the hill toward the carnival.

 It didn’t occur to me at the time, but I was running away from death, wasn’t I? I was running toward life. And there was Mr. Electrico sitting on the platform out in front of the carnival and I didn’t know what to say. I was scared of making a fool of myself. I had a magic trick in my pocket, one of those little ball-and-vase tricks—a little container that had a ball in it that you make disappear and reappear—and I got that out and asked, Can you show me how to do this? It was the right thing to do. It made a contact. He knew he was talking to a young magician. He took it, showed me how to do it, gave it back to me, then he looked at my face and said, Would you like to meet those people in that tent over there? Those strange people? And I said, Yes sir, I would. So he led me over there and he hit the tent with his cane and said, Clean up your language! Clean up your language! He took me in, and the first person I met was the illustrated man. Isn’t that wonderful? The Illustrated Man! He called himself the tattooed man, but I changed his name later for my book. I also met the strong man, the fat lady, the trapeze people, the dwarf, and the skeleton. They all became characters.

 Mr. Electrico was a beautiful man, see, because he knew that he had a little weird kid there who was twelve years old and wanted lots of things. We walked along the shore of Lake Michigan and he treated me like a grown-up. I talked my big philosophies and he talked his little ones. Then we went out and sat on the dunes near the lake and all of a sudden he leaned over and said, I’m glad you’re back in my life. I said, What do you mean? I don’t know you. He said, You were my best friend outside of Paris in 1918. You were wounded in the Ardennes and you died in my arms there. I’m glad you’re back in the world. You have a different face, a different name, but the soul shining out of your face is the same as my friend. Welcome back.

 Now why did he say that? Explain that to me, why? Maybe he had a dead son, maybe he had no sons, maybe he was lonely, maybe he was an ironical jokester. Who knows? It could be that he saw the intensity with which I live. Every once in a while at a book signing I see young boys and girls who are so full of fire that it shines out of their face and you pay more attention to that. Maybe that’s what attracted him.

 When I left the carnival that day I stood by the carousel and I watched the horses running around and around to the music of “Beautiful Ohio,” and I cried. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I knew something important had happened to me that day because of Mr. Electrico. I felt changed. He gave me importance, immortality, a mystical gift. My life was turned around completely. It makes me cold all over to think about it, but I went home and within days I started to write. I’ve never stopped.

 Seventy-seven years ago, and I’ve remembered it perfectly. I went back and saw him that night. He sat in the chair with his sword, they pulled the switch, and his hair stood up. He reached out with his sword and touched everyone in the front row, boys and girls, men and women, with the electricity that sizzled from the sword. When he came to me, he touched me on the brow, and on the nose, and on the chin, and he said to me, in a whisper, “Live forever.” And I decided to.

-Ray Bradbury, Paris Review

Monday, June 22, 2026

The Oppression is distracting us from the Recession

Blackstone age 4 is The Dude

 

Vehicle Safety for Children

 

Rhode Island requires children to ride in the back seat secured in an approved car seat or booster seat until they are 8 years old, 57 inches tall, or weigh 80 pounds. Infants and toddlers must remain rear-facing until at least 2 years old or 30 lbs. [1, 2]

Key Requirements

• Under Age 2: Must be in a rear-facing car seat in the back seat.
• Age 2 to 8: Must be in an approved child restraint system (rear-facing, forward-facing, or booster seat) in the back seat.
• Ages 8–17: Can sit in the front or back, but must be secured with a seat belt.
• Exiting a Booster: Children who meet all three of the following can transition to a regular seat belt: Age 8 or older, at least 57 inches tall, and 80+ pounds. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Exemptions & Fines

• Pickup Trucks / Vehicles without rear seats: Children may ride in the front, but must still be properly restrained in their car seat/booster (with the passenger-side airbag turned off, if applicable).
• Penalties: Fines for a first-time child restraint violation are typically $85. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Full details can be found on the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles or the Rhode Island State Police resources. [1]

Laws about Tinted Vechicle Windows

 Rhode Island has some of the strictest window tinting laws in the country.

Rhode Island Window Tint Requirements

• Passenger Cars (Sedans & Coupes):
  • Windshield: No tinting allowed, except for a non-reflective strip above the manufacturer’s AS-1 line.
  • Front & Back Side Windows: Must allow at least 70% of light in (VLT).
  • Rear Window: Must allow at least 70% of light in (VLT). [1]
• MPVs (SUVs, Vans & Trucks):
  • Front Side Windows: Must allow at least 70% of light in (VLT).
  • Back Side & Rear Windows: Can be tinted to any darkness, including complete privacy (0% VLT). [1]

Other Key Regulations

• Reflectivity: Window films cannot be more reflective or mirrored than standard glass.
• Colors: All tint colors are allowed as long as they meet VLT percentages.
• Medical Exceptions: The Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles issues medical exemptions for individuals with conditions requiring protection from the sun.
• Penalties: Police actively enforce this law; violations can result in fines up to $250 per offense. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Tinted windows are primarily restricted to ensure driver visibility and law enforcement safety. Overly dark films impair a driver's ability to see at night, hide seat belt and mobile phone violations, and prevent police officers from assessing the number of occupants or seeing if someone is reaching for a weapon. [1, 2, 3, 4]

Window tint laws vary by state, but the primary safety and legal concerns include: [1, 2, 3]

• Driver Visibility: Dark tints significantly reduce the light transmittance into the cabin, which makes it harder for the driver to see pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicles in low-light or adverse weather conditions. [1, 2]
• Officer Safety: During traffic stops, officers need to be able to make eye contact and see inside the vehicle. Dark tints increase the risk of an ambush by concealing the occupants' actions and preventing the officer from determining if there are potential threats. [1, 2, 3]
• Traffic Law Enforcement: Tinted windows make it difficult for law enforcement to monitor drivers for infractions like distracted driving (e.g., using a phone) or failing to wear a seat belt. [1, 2]
• Identification & Security: Solid, opaque, or highly reflective films can be used to conceal criminal activity or help individuals evade security and traffic cameras. [1]

Because laws are enforced by individual states rather than the federal government, regulations differ significantly across the country. States measure tint using Visible Light Transmission (VLT)—the percentage of light that is allowed to pass through the window. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

R.I. stores legally selling fireworks illegal to use in Massachusetts

Deborah Allard

Updated July 3, 2012, 3:00 a.m. ET

Sparklers that sizzle on a stick, fountains that spray sparks and an exploding Bin Laden head are a few of the fireworks being sold legally in nearby Rhode Island.

Just over the Fall River line, Joker Fireworks at 36 Main St., Tiverton, opened in June to cash in on Fourth of July sales. The shop is selling all sorts of fireworks to buyers from all over the region, including those in nearby Massachusetts.

“We’re getting a lot of people from Massachusetts,” said store clerk Lance Gunberg. 

The shop is owned by Richard Langlois and Walter Mandeville. They expanded the business to Tiverton from the main store in New Hampshire. 

It has always been legal to purchase fireworks in New Hampshire, and many of those pyrotechnics have made their way to the commonwealth. Fireworks became legal in Rhode Island in 2010. Rhode Island laws are stricter than those in New Hampshire, and allow only ground and handheld “sparkling” devices, that may crackle but not “bang,” and cannot be projected into the air.

Still, the brightly colored packages promise colorful displays of sparks with smoke and pops. 

“This is our first time setting off fireworks,” said Celia Spencer of Taunton, shopping at Joker in Tiverton. She said her son Eric “can’t wait to set them off.”

A customer who didn’t want to identify himself said it used to be a “hassle” to drive to New Hampshire for fireworks. “It’s been a long time since I’ve used them.”

Massachusetts Fire Marshall Stephen D. Coan is urging the public in a press release: “Be smart! Leave the fireworks to the professionals.”

“People mistakenly think they know how to use fireworks safely just because nothing bad has happened to them yet,” Coan said. “But, when things go wrong with fireworks, it happens suddenly, without warning, and the impact is irrevocable and life changing.”

Coan said more fires occur on the Fourth of July than any other day of the year.

He said that last year, a Dennis home was destroyed due to fireworks that ignited the roof. In Saugus, a 21-year old man received severe burns to his face when he looked into a cake-type firework to see why it had stopped firing. It blew up in his face.

The Department of Fire Services reported more than 2.4 million in property losses in the past decade due to fireworks incidents. 

But, the lure of fireworks is apparently intoxicating, regardless of the danger or legality.

At Warren Mart on Market Street, Warren, R.I., just about a mile from Swansea, store owner Antonio Elhaggy of Fall River said he’d love it if Massachusetts would legalize fireworks.

“I’d like to open a store in Massachusetts,” Elhaggy said.

Warren Mart sells conveniences like milk, scratch tickets, candy and cigarettes. On one store shelf is a display of fireworks like the Crackling Rose Garden and Picturesque Shower of Sparks. 

Elhaggy said he didn’t know where his fireworks customers lived, whether they were Rhode Islanders or crossing the Massachusetts border to purchase fireworks illegally.

“I don’t care where they come from,” Elhaggy said.

He started selling fireworks when it became legal two years ago. Others stores in Rhode Island sell fireworks too, even big box stores.

“Anything to make business better,” Elhaggy said. “It’s a rough economy.”

Elhaggy said Rhode Island should not restrict fireworks sales to ground and sparkler displays. He said fireworks that explode or rise into the sky are not anymore dangerous. 

Sparklers burn at over 1,200 degrees according to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.

Email Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com.  

The Laws vs the Reality

Years ago I phone the local landlord when his tenants had tiki torches burning on a FIRST FLOOR TRIPLE DECKER PORCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grilling on porches in Woonsocket, RI, is restricted under the Rhode Island Fire Safety Code and NFPA 1 regulations. The rules depend on your housing type: [1]

• Multi-Family Dwellings (3+ units): Gas, charcoal, and hibachi grills are completely illegal to use or store on any balcony, porch, or under any overhanging portion of a building. [1]
• One- and Two-Family Homes: You can legally grill on porches, but you must maintain a 10-foot clearance from any combustible structure (walls, railings, eaves) unless manufacturer instructions state otherwise. Grilling under overhangs or enclosed porches is generally prohibited. [1, 2, 3]
• Electric Grills: These are typically permitted on open porches or balconies since they do not use an open flame, provided you maintain basic fire clearance. [1, 2]

If you are dealing with a neighbor violating these fire safety laws, you should contact the Woonsocket Building Inspection & Code Enforcement Division or the Woonsocket Fire Department for non-emergency complaints.

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