… but come this fall, this is what you’ll be wanting. The New York Times headline writer tags this report, without any apparent irony, ‘In Milan, All Masculinity, No Pretense’.

This is great news, thanks to the hard work of countless RI activists and groups like the Childhood Lead Action Project:

Incidents of lead poisoning among Rhode Island children have “declined dramatically” over the past 10 years, according to a report by the state Department of Health. This news comes with only a few weeks left before the state Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the State’s suit against three former manufacturers of lead paint.

Only 1.3 percent of children tested had elevated levels of lead in their blood, down from 6.6 percent in 1998. In 2007, 388 children were found to have elevated levels for the first time.

Some time soon I’m going to write about the gross pessimism that pervades our state — perpetuated by the Projo at talk radio, and frequently predicated on lies. And the ways in which said pessimism might serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy, keep people miserable, encourage people to move away, etc… And the ways in which certain vested interests benefit from it all.

But, anyway. Here’s one more reason to really like Rhode Island:

Rhode Island is ranked the nation’s second safest state for children in this month’s Parents magazine, Governor Carcieri’s office announced today.

Connecticut was first. After Rhode Island, the rest in order were New Jersey, New York, California, Maine, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Oregon.

The magazine ranked the states on 30 things, including booster seat laws and electronic tracking of convicted sex offenders. It looked at crime and injury rates and states’ child-safety legislation.

The magazine noted Rhode Island’s violent-crime rate against children was about half the national average and declining, the governor’s office said.

Less poverty.

More writing. 

I was never as scared of clowns as my little sister was — I have this especially vivid memory of Fourth of July in Rockville, MD circa 1987. I was a mumbler even then, and shocked that the fireworks illuminated the clouds in the night sky. “You can see the clouds! You can see the clouds!” My little sister heard ‘clowns,’ freaked out, and ran over to my mom. Who told me to shut the heck up.

So it wasn’t a surprise to me — nor, do I imagine, to the rest of the planet — when Harper’s printed this in its Findings a month back:

“British researchers determined that children universally dislike clowns, finding them “unknowable“

It’s true, and from a study on prospective hospital wallpaper designs. The clowns — in typical form not knowing when to chill out — are fighting back:

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