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- Blue water thinking
- From Racial Justice to Dirty Air, California’s New AG Plots a Progressive Health Care Agenda
- Doctors Tell How to Make the Most of Your Telehealth Visits
- The ‘Grief Pandemic’ Will Torment Americans for Years
- Readers and Tweeters React to Racism, Inequities in Health Care
- Exploring Wiltshire with Pevsner: The Estate Villages of Joseph Neeld
- Billionaire Investor George Soros Strongly Recommends to Buy Coursera’s Stock
- June’s Bookshop of the Month – Sam Read Bookseller
- Amazon Prime Day set for June 21-22; tech giant turns to actor Kristen Bell to help counter critics
- Cosmonauts Exit Station and Begin Spacewalk
| Posted: 02 Jun 2021 02:41 AM PDT dWeb.News Article from MIT Technology Review Insights dWeb.News Tech News The names of many of the new companies and technologies created to combat the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems can evoke thrilling acts of derring-do on the high seas. WaveKiller uses compressed air systems to create "walls" of bubbles up to 50 feet thick, to guard against erosion and contain waste and oil spills. The Inceptor is a solar-powered barge deployed by the Dutch nongovernmental organization Ocean Cleanup along rivers in Southeast Asia to gather tons of waste before it hits the sea. Saildrone and WasteShark build and deploy fleets of autonomous drones to ply the oceans, gathering meteorological and marine data in the former case and trash in the latter. This sample of (often menacingly-named) technologies represents the increasingly diverse approaches to combat marine degradation—diversity which is desperately needed, as climate change wages war on the health of the world's oceans on many different fronts. Carbon emission levels are warming air and water temperatures, which in turn are melting polar ice sheets so quickly that NASA estimates global sea levels will rise half a centimeter annually through 2100. Addressing the challenges of warming, rising seas is essential for global sustainability on multiple fronts, but two are particularly stark. One is coastal habitats: as the world's coastlines recede and are degraded, the homes and livelihoods of the one-in-three of the world's people who live along its coasts will likely be irrevocably changed in this generation. The second is global food supplies. Overlooking the economic setback caused by the global covid-19 pandemic, exponential growth in global trade and protein consumption has pushed ocean-going transportation and commercial fishing to increasingly unsustainable levels. Growing consumer demand and systemic failures to recycle and manage solid waste also add 8 million tons of plastics to the 150 million tons in our oceans today, according to the Ocean Conservancy. Plastic ocean waste is both an immediately visceral sustainability challenge—impacting a variety of industries from aquaculture to tourism—and a perniciously long-tailed threat to global ecology, as ocean tides break down plastic waste into microplastics that seep into food chains. This is one area where a broad portfolio of technology-enabled responses are being scaled up in response, from the aforementioned walls of bubbles and fleets of waste-gobbling drones, to the creation of new polymers that dissolve in seawater, to managing information and insight around maritime commercial activities through sensors and AI-enabled analytics. But much more—more technology deployment, more investment in innovation, more regulation and government oversight—is needed to effectively mitigate the rise of ocean plastics, and the myriad other threats to the world's oceans. In this context,MIT Technology Review Insights, the custom content division of MIT Technology Review, is embarking on a global research initiative to assess how new "blue economy" technologies and solutions are being deployed to clean up our oceans, reduce sea-related carbon emissions, and increase sustainability in maritime industries. This project will culminate with the publication of the "Blue Technology Barometer," which will quantify where amongst the world's coastal economies relevant technologies and solutions are being created and effectively deployed to address challenges ranging from reducing carbon emissions in container shipping and port logistics to combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated activities. The Barometer will evaluate these efforts in over 50 coastal countries and territories globally, and rank them using an econometric model anchored in an extensive set of data and forecasts from dozens of sources. This model and research methodology will be based on the work MIT Technology Review Insights has done to create the Green Future Index—our foundational global ranking of decarbonization progress and potential—and will form an important complement to our expanding portfolio of holistic research projects that examine the role technology plays in advancing sustainable development. The Barometer will also examine national and transnational efforts to deploy technologies, regulation, and commercial solutions that both tackle climate change and are deployed to roll back the damage caused to marine environments and the cryosphere. Through assessing this intersectionality of innovative thinking and action, the Barometer aims to highlight which coastal economies are working most effectively to ensure a blue tomorrow. This content was produced by Insights, the custom content arm of MIT Technology Review. It was not written by MIT Technology Review's editorial staff. The names of many of the new companies and technologies created to combat the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems can evoke thrilling acts of derring-do on the high seas. WaveKiller uses compressed air systems to create "walls" of bubbles up to 50 feet thick, to guard against erosion and contain waste and oil…Climate change, climate change, sustainable energy The post Blue water thinking appeared first on dWeb.News Tech News from Daniel Webster dWeb Internet Cowboy  |
| From Racial Justice to Dirty Air, California’s New AG Plots a Progressive Health Care Agenda Posted: 02 Jun 2021 02:40 AM PDT dWeb.News Article from Angela Hart dWeb.News Tech News  California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a longtime Democratic state lawmaker, comes to his new role well known for pursuing an unabashedly progressive agenda on criminal justice issues. He has pushed for legislation to eliminate cash bail and to ban for-profit prisons and detention centers. But Bonta also has a distinctive record on health care, successfully advancing legislation to protect consumers from so-called surprise medical bills when they inadvertently get treatment from out-of-network providers and framing environmental hazards like pollution as issues of social justice. Use Our ContentIt can be republished for free. He was among the Democratic lawmakers leading the charge at the California Capitol to take on Big Soda, pushing to cut consumption of sugary drinks through taxes and warning labels. Such proposals so far have faltered under the influence of the soda industry. Bonta, 49, was an infant when his family, in 1971, moved to California from the Philippines, where his parents worked as missionaries. His father, Warren Bonta, a native Californian, worked for the state for decades as a health care official, setting up clinics to expand access to medical care in rural and refugee communities. Rob Bonta's first elected position was to the Alameda Health Care District, overseeing local medical services. Appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom this year, Bonta in April succeeded former state Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who was tapped by President Joe Biden to serve as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In the weeks since, Bonta has beefed up the number of lawyers working in the Department of Justice's Bureau of Environmental Justice and has created a Racial Justice Bureau that he said will play a pivotal role in ensuring equal access to health care for Black and Latino residents. A graduate of Yale Law School, Bonta spent nine years as a deputy city attorney in San Francisco before his election to the state Assembly in 2012, representing Oakland and the East Bay. He was the first Filipino American elected to the California legislature, and is now the first Filipino American to serve as the state's chief law enforcement officer. As attorney general, Bonta said he envisions a far different relationship with the Biden administration than his predecessor had with the Trump administration. Becerra emerged as one of former President Donald Trump's fiercest critics during his tenure as the state's top cop, filing more than 120 lawsuits to oppose Trump administration policies on the environment and health care, including leading the ongoing fight to preserve the Affordable Care Act in its case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Vice President Kamala Harris also once served as California's attorney general, and Bonta said he sees tremendous opportunity to shape a more progressive agenda on issues such as reproductive health and universal, single-payer health care working in concert with the new administration. Bonta spoke with KHN about how health care would shape his agenda as attorney general. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Q: Your predecessor made health care a priority. Will it be one of yours? It's going to be a top priority for me, and it was a top priority for me as a legislator. I was chair of the Assembly Health Committee or a health committee member the entire time I was there, almost nine years. Before that, I was on a health care district board. My very first elected office I ever had was making sure we provided true access to high-quality, affordable health care to the community that I served. This is a really foundational part of who I am, and who my family is — our legacy and our values and what we stood for. I think health care is a right, not a privilege. It's for all, not the few. Q: You've said you would make racial justice a priority. Do you believe racism is a public health crisis? Yes, I do. Covid-19 revealed a lot of what was inequitable and racist about our systems — the disparate impacts that we saw, the inequity that we saw. And I think racism is not just a public health crisis — it is a public health crisis — but it also infects our economic system, it infects our criminal justice system, it infects all of our systems. And it has led to a public health crisis. Q: What does that look like in health care? How does inequity show up? It looks like making sure that in health care there aren't disparate impacts on communities of color. That race is not correlated to less access or less quality, and making sure that no one is left out. That can look like access to reproductive health care; that can look like access to real health insurance as opposed to sham health insurance plans. It can look like a charge that is inappropriately placed on a vaccine — vaccines are supposed to be free. That's something else we worked on recently. Q: Can you elaborate? Through a joint investigation with U.S. Health and Human Services, as well as the U.S. attorney's office, we identified that vaccines — which should be provided to individuals for free under the law — that a charge was being placed on the vaccine. The vaccine should be universally accessible. And when that isn't being done, barriers are being put up in vulnerable communities, keeping people from their vaccine that we all need right now. That is a problem. We put out an alert and reminded people of the laws that provide free vaccines to all individuals under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention program. Q: What areas of environmental health might you look into? The building of huge warehouses. In the Inland Empire, there are quite a few being built. They're being built adjacent to or in disadvantaged communities. And all the goods movement activity — and all of the emissions that are created from the goods movement — create a threat, and a risk to those communities. Q: Like Amazon, for instance? The corporation has come under scrutiny for environmental harms associated with its sprawling warehouses. Yeah. These warehouses have really created problems for disadvantaged communities in California. We expanded the Bureau of Environmental Justice to provide more resources and more ability to go after big polluters, and to protect communities that live at the intersection of poverty and pollution who are being forced to drink dirty water and breathe unhealthy air. I see the role of the attorney general as standing up for everyday people who are abused or hurt and neglected or mistreated, and generally protecting the little guy from the overreach and abuse of power of the big guy. We have more authority in the environmental realm than in many other areas. And we want to use those tools — that authority, that influence, that power — to protect communities, often low-income communities, often communities of color, who are being hurt by polluters. Q: Becerra filed a lawsuit and sponsored legislation going after health industry mergers alleged to be anti-competitive, a practice he argues drives up health care prices. Will you continue to go after anti-competitive practices in health care? That's definitely a priority. That's a critical tool in the toolbox that the California attorney general uniquely has to approve — or put conditions on, or not approve — proposed mergers involving a nonprofit hospital. The lens to see that through is: How does it impact patients? How does it impact access to quality care, and cost of care? And so that is exactly why the attorney general has that role, to review these proposed mergers with an eye towards patients and communities that don't necessarily have a voice in the merger. Q: As attorney general, do you support single-payer health care? My involvement will be different. Having said that, I co-authored the single-payer bill from a few years back. And I was a co-author of this year's single-payer bill that Assemblyman Ash Kalra was leading that I think is no longer moving. [Kalra has withdrawn the bill from consideration for this year.] I support single-payer health care. I support universal health care. I think single-payer health care is a way to get to that aspiration. As the attorney general, I enforce the law. We don't have a single-payer law in California. So, I'll enforce the existing laws, which are very strong, to help make sure Californians have the most accessible, affordable, highest-quality health care. Q: The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a Mississippi abortion case that some say could threaten abortion rights at the state level. If upheld, how could that affect the abortion protections in California? That's going to be a really important case for reproductive freedom, and important, in my view, for California to be involved in given our leadership in this space. As the case gets briefed and prepped for consideration and argument before the U.S. Supreme Court, I expect we will be very active in making arguments to the court to help guide [the justices'] thinking and their decisions. Q: What will California's relationship with the federal government be like? I think the posture and the relationship between the federal administration and California over the last four years are very different than what they will be for the next four. Attorney General Becerra was the warrior and the champion that we needed, and that was necessary as we faced a full-frontal assault on California, our people, our values and our resources, and he fought back and protected us and defended us and stood up for our values time and time again. Now, I think we have a Biden-Harris administration that largely does agree that we should have, certainly, the Affordable Care Act, that we should have reproductive freedom, that we should address the inequities in our health care system, that we should have affordable, accessible, high-quality health care for all — and will help us get there. So, with the new administration, I look to collaboration. California can and should continue to be who we are. We lead. We go first. We pioneer. We're bold and we're big in how we think. That's who we are, so that leading role is our natural place to be, including in health care. This story was produced by KHN, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation. USE OUR CONTENTThis story can be republished for free (details). In a candid interview, California's newly appointed attorney general, Rob Bonta, reflects on his progressive roots and says he will pursue a health care agenda centered on the principle that quality medical care is a right, not a privilege. The post From Racial Justice to Dirty Air, California's New AG Plots a Progressive Health Care Agenda appeared first on dWeb.News Tech News from Daniel Webster dWeb Internet Cowboy  |
| Doctors Tell How to Make the Most of Your Telehealth Visits Posted: 02 Jun 2021 02:40 AM PDT dWeb.News Article from Julie Appleby, Kaiser Health News dWeb.News Tech News  When the pandemic sidelined in-office visits at his practice, Dr. Dael Waxman "wasn't exactly thrilled with being at home." But he quickly shifted gears to video and telephone appointments. This story also ran on U.S. News & World Report. It can be republished for free. Now, he finds, there are good reasons to keep these options open even as in-office visits have resumed and many parts of the country have sharply loosened coronavirus restrictions. One is that some patients "have to overcome a lot of obstacles to get to me," said Waxman, a family physician with Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina. "I have lots of single mothers. They have to leave work, get their kids out of school and then take two buses. Why would they want to do that if they don't have to?" Telehealth served as a lifeline for many during the pandemic, ramping up from a minority share of office visits to a majority, at least for a while. Still, it cannot replace hands-on care for some conditions, and for those not blessed with speedy broadband internet service or smart devices it can be difficult or impossible to use. As things head toward a new normal, lawmakers and insurers, including Medicare, are debating how to proceed, the biggest question being whether to continue reimbursing providers at the same payment rate as for in-person coverage once the covid public health emergency ends. While that debate rages — one side pointing to the costs associated with setting up such services, the other arguing that payment rates should decline because telehealth services are cheaper to provide — patients are left to decide if such visits meet their needs. KHN put such questions to physicians, who gave tips on the types of concerns that are best handled in person, and when video visits are most useful. Not surprisingly, they recommended that patients ask their provider which type of visit is most appropriate for their particular circumstance. Four additional things we learned: 1. Some things just need to be done in person. Chest pains, new shortness of breath, abdominal pain, new or increased swelling in the legs — all those things point to the need for an in-person visit. And, of course, blood tests, vaccinations and imaging scans must be done in person. "If your blood pressure is really high or you have some symptoms of concern like chest pain, one needs to go to the office," said Dr. Ada Stewart, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, which posted an online guide for telemedicine visits. If patients are concerned enough about the situation that they are considering going to an urgent care clinic or even an emergency room, "they should be seen," said Waxman. And that would occur in person. If a condition, even something seemingly simple, hasn't resolved in a reasonable time, go to the office. Waxman recalled a patient with an eye issue who went to urgent care and received antibiotics, but the eye was still irritated after treatment. "Because it had not resolved, I was worried about shingles of the eye," he said. It turned out not to be shingles, but a different problem, Waxman learned after referring the patient to an ophthalmologist. In-person visits can also prove more productive because a physician gains visual clues to what might be wrong by watching how a patient walks, sits or speaks. While video visits are wonderful, said Dr. David Anderson, a cardiologist affiliated with Stanford Health Care in Oakland, California, sometimes things come up in person that might not over video. "I can't say how many times I sit with a patient and I think we're done — then the thing that's really the problem gets brought up and we spend the next 45 minutes on it," he said. Finally, a good reason to go in is, simply, if that's what you prefer. "I had a patient the other day who said he could have done a phone visit but was old-school and just preferred being in the office," Waxman said. 2. Sometimes a televisit is better. It's not always necessary to trek into a medical office or clinic. Stewart, at the family physician group, said check-ins for chronic conditions, such as diabetes or hypertension, "that are basically under control" can easily be handled remotely. Cardiologist Anderson concurred, especially for periodic assessments or checking how a patient is handling a new medication. "If I have a [stable] 82-year-old patient and her daughter needs to miss work and come from 30 miles away to bring Mom in for us to sit there for 15 minutes to chat, that's something where the efficiency of a video visit is good," he said. But if that same patient complains that "when they take a morning walk, they are short of breath and they were not before, that person I would want to see face to face." And, sometimes, video follow-ups for stable patients with chronic illnesses are preferable. "On the phone or by video, I found there to be a lot more non-distracted time for education," he said. It is helpful if patients can monitor their blood sugar or blood pressure at home and then report their statistics during the televisit. But some patients cannot afford a home blood pressure monitor, so that can be a limitation, Waxman cautioned. And even those who have a monitor should initially take it into the office to make sure it is accurate, he said. Some dermatologic conditions — think rashes and such — can be handled by video, so long as the patient is comfortable using the camera on their smartphone or computer tablet and can get a good picture of the problem area. While 70% to 80% of skin issues can start with a video visit, he estimated, the rest require in-person evaluation, perhaps even a biopsy. 3. Everything works better when both sides prepare. Both patients and providers can get the most out of a video visit if they first take a few simple steps, the experts said. Find a quiet place without distractions. Turn off the TV. Have a family member present if you want a second set of ears, but choose a private setting if you don't. "You will not believe the circumstances where people Zoom in to me," said Anderson. Some are in their cars, "maybe because that's the best place where they get internet service," or they're in their pajamas, just finishing breakfast. "There's a whole lack of preparation and seriousness that occurs," he said. Have a list of medications you're taking and write down the problem or symptoms you wish to discuss, as well as specific questions you have, to make the most out of the time available, advised Stewart. Providers, too, need to take steps. Anderson said they should read patients' medical records ahead of time and focus because there are fewer cues to a patient's concerns over video than in person. Physicians "have to be doubly vigilant," Anderson said, pay attention to all their suspicions and be extra thorough because "it would be much easier to miss something important." 4. What might happen next? Some advocates say insurers should make sure that their reimbursement policies don't favor one type of visit over another and that no patient feels pressured into a televisit. During the covid emergency, Congress and the agency that oversees Medicare temporarily made it easier for beneficiaries to use telehealth — for instance, by removing geographic restrictions and allowing audio-only visits in some circumstances. Medicare also began reimbursing providers equally for telehealth and in-person care. Many private insurers followed Medicare's lead; some also voluntarily waived cost-sharing requirements for telehealth patients. Many expect Medicare Advantage plans to keep covering televisits once the emergency is officially over, and traditional Medicare could follow suit. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, a nonpartisan agency that advises Congress, has recommended temporarily continuing to cover some services while the agency gathers data about a wide range of effects, including concerns that telehealth raises spending and the advantages it may offer. That data is important, said Fred Riccardi, president of the Medicare Rights Center. The expansion has helped many Medicare beneficiaries, he added, but "has left some communities behind," including the oldest adults, those with disabilities and those in areas with spotty internet service. And future policies should ensure that patients who prefer in-person visits can continue them, he said. Anderson, the cardiologist, agreed that televisits "have a wonderful place" in the range of options, but he warned against cost-saving measures by insurers that might require patients to have a video visit before being granted coverage for an office visit. "I would see that as an unfortunate delay in care," he said. KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation. USE OUR CONTENTThis story can be republished for free (details). Public health restrictions put in place during the pandemic are loosening, meaning it's OK to go back to your doctor's office. But will virtual visits remain an option? The post Doctors Tell How to Make the Most of Your Telehealth Visits appeared first on dWeb.News Tech News from Daniel Webster dWeb Internet Cowboy  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The ‘Grief Pandemic’ Will Torment Americans for Years Posted: 02 Jun 2021 02:40 AM PDT dWeb.News Article from Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News dWeb.News Tech News  Cassandra Rollins' daughter was still conscious when the ambulance took her away. This story also ran on USA Today. It can be republished for free. Shalondra Rollins, 38, was struggling to breathe as covid overwhelmed her lungs. But before the doors closed, she asked for her cellphone, so she could call her family from the hospital. It was April 7, 2020 — the last time Rollins would see her daughter or hear her voice. The hospital rang an hour later to say she was gone. A chaplain later told Rollins that Shalondra had died on a gurney in the hallway. Rollins was left to break the news to Shalondra's children, ages 13 and 15. More than a year later, Rollins said, the grief is unrelenting. Rollins has suffered panic attacks and depression that make it hard to get out of bed. She often startles when the phone rings, fearing that someone else is hurt or dead. If her other daughters don't pick up when she calls, Rollins phones their neighbors to check on them. "You would think that as time passes it would get better," said Rollins, 57, of Jackson, Mississippi. "Sometimes, it is even harder. … This wound right here, time don't heal it." With nearly 600,000 in the U.S. lost to covid-19 — now a leading cause of death — researchers estimate that more than 5 million Americans are in mourning, including more than 43,000 children who have lost a parent. The pandemic — and the political battles and economic devastation that have accompanied it — have inflicted unique forms of torment on mourners, making it harder to move ahead with their lives than with a typical loss, said sociologist Holly Prigerson, co-director of the Cornell Center for Research on End-of-Life Care. The scale and complexity of pandemic-related grief have created a public health burden that could deplete Americans' physical and mental health for years, leading to more depression, substance misuse, suicidal thinking, sleep disturbances, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and impaired immune function. "Unequivocally, grief is a public health issue," said Prigerson, who lost her mother to covid in January. "You could call it the grief pandemic." Like many other mourners, Rollins has struggled with feelings of guilt, regret and helplessness — for the loss of her daughter as well as Rollins' only son, Tyler, who died by suicide seven months earlier. "I was there to see my mom close her eyes and leave this world," said Rollins, who was first interviewed by KHN a year ago in a story about covid's disproportionate effects on communities of color. "The hardest part is that my kids died alone. If it weren't for this covid, I could have been right there with her" in the ambulance and emergency room. "I could have held her hand." The pandemic has prevented many families from gathering and holding funerals, even after deaths caused by conditions other than covid. Prigerson's research shows that families of patients who die in hospital intensive care units are seven times more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than loved ones of people who die in home hospice. The polarized political climate has even pitted some family members against one another, with some insisting that the pandemic is a hoax and that loved ones must have died from influenza, rather than covid. People in grief say they're angry at relatives, neighbors and fellow Americans who failed to take the coronavirus seriously, or who still don't appreciate how many people have suffered. "People holler about not being able to have a birthday party," Rollins said. "We couldn't even have a funeral." Indeed, the optimism generated by vaccines and falling infection rates has blinded many Americans to the deep sorrow and depression of those around them. Some mourners say they will continue wearing their face masks — even in places where mandates have been removed — as a memorial to those lost. "People say, 'I can't wait until life gets back to normal,'" said Heidi Diaz Goff, 30, of the Los Angeles area, who lost her 72-year-old father to covid. "My life will never be normal again." Many of those grieving say celebrating the end of the pandemic feels not just premature, but insulting to their loved ones' memories. "Grief is invisible in many ways," said Tashel Bordere, a University of Missouri assistant professor of human development and family science who studies bereavement, particularly in the Black community. "When a loss is invisible and people can't see it, they may not say 'I'm sorry for your loss,' because they don't know it's occurred." "You would think that as time passes it would get better. Sometimes, it is even harder. … This wound right here, time don't heal it." Cassandra Rollins, of Jackson, Mississippi Communities of color, which have experienced disproportionately higher rates of death and job loss from covid, are now carrying a heavier burden. Black children are more likely than white children to lose a parent to covid. Even before the pandemic, the combination of higher infant and maternal mortality rates, a greater incidence of chronic disease and shorter life expectancies made Black people more likely than others to be grieving a close family member at any point in their lives. Rollins said everyone she knows has lost someone to covid. "You wake up every morning, and it's another day they're not here," Rollins said. "You go to bed at night, and it's the same thing." A Lifetime of Loss Rollins has been battered by hardships and loss since childhood. She was the youngest of 11 children raised in the segregated South. Rollins was 5 years old when her older sister Cora, whom she called "Coral," was stabbed to death at a nightclub, according to news reports. Although Cora's husband was charged with murder, he was set free after a mistrial. Rollins gave birth to Shalondra at age 17, and the two were especially close. "We grew up together," Rollins said. Just a few months after Shalondra was born, Rollins' older sister Christine was fatally shot during an argument with another woman. Rollins and her mother helped raise two of the children Christine left behind. Heartbreak is all too common in the Black community, Bordere said. The accumulated trauma — from violence to chronic illness and racial discrimination — can have a weathering effect, making it harder for people to recover. "It's hard to recover from any one experience, because every day there is another loss," Bordere said. "Grief impacts our ability to think. It impacts our energy levels. Grief doesn't just show up in tears. It shows up in fatigue, in working less." Rollins hoped her children would overcome the obstacles of growing up Black in Mississippi. Shalondra earned an associate's degree in early childhood education and loved her job as an assistant teacher to kids with special needs. Shalondra, who had been a second mother to her younger siblings, also adopted a cousin's stepdaughter after the child's mother died, raising the girl alongside her two children. Rollins' son, Tyler, enlisted in the Army after high school, hoping to follow in the footsteps of other men in the family who had military careers. Yet the hardest losses of Rollins' life were still to come. In 2019, Tyler killed himself at age 20, leaving behind a wife and unborn child. "When you see two Army men walking up to your door," Rollins said, "that's unexplainable." Tyler's daughter was born the day Shalondra died. "They called to tell me the baby was born, and I had to tell them about Shalondra," Rollins said. "I don't know how to celebrate." Shalondra's death from covid changed her daughters' lives in multiple ways. The girls lost their mother, but also the routines that might help mourners adjust to a catastrophic loss. The girls moved in with their grandmother, who lives in their school district. But they have not set foot in a classroom for more than a year, spending their days in virtual school, rather than with friends. Shalondra's death eroded their financial security as well, by taking away her income. Rollins, who worked as a substitute teacher before the pandemic, hasn't had a job since local schools shut down. She owns her own home and receives unemployment insurance, she said, but money is tight. Makalin Odie, 14, said her mother, as a teacher, would have made online learning easier. "It would be very different with my mom here." The girls especially miss their mom on holidays. "My mom always loved birthdays," said Alana Odie, 16. "I know that if my mom were here my 16th birthday would have been really special." Asked what she loved most about her mother, Alana replied, "I miss everything about her." Grief Complicated by Illness The trauma also has taken a toll on Alana and Makalin's health. Both teens have begun taking medications for high blood pressure. Alana has been on diabetes medication since before her mom died. Mental and physical health problems are common after a major loss. "The mental health consequences of the pandemic are real," Prigerson said. "There are going to be all sorts of ripple effects." The stress of losing a loved one to covid increases the risk for prolonged grief disorder, also known as complicated grief, which can lead to serious illness, increase the risk of domestic violence and steer marriages and relationships to fall apart, said Ashton Verdery, an associate professor of sociology and demography at Penn State. People who lose a spouse have a roughly 30% higher risk of death over the following year, a phenomenon known as the "the widowhood effect." Similar risks are seen in people who lose a child or sibling, Verdery said. Grief can lead to "broken-heart syndrome," a temporary condition in which the heart's main pumping chamber changes shape, affecting its ability to pump blood effectively, Verdery said. From final farewells to funerals, the pandemic has robbed mourners of nearly everything that helps people cope with catastrophic loss, while piling on additional insults, said the Rev. Alicia Parker, minister of comfort at New Covenant Church of Philadelphia. "It may be harder for them for many years to come," Parker said. "We don't know the fallout yet, because we are still in the middle of it." Rollins said she would have liked to arrange a big funeral for Shalondra. Because of restrictions on social gatherings, the family held a small graveside service instead. Funerals are important cultural traditions, allowing loved ones to give and receive support for a shared loss, Parker said. "When someone dies, people bring food for you, they talk about your loved one, the pastor may come to the house," Parker said. "People come from out of town. What happens when people can't come to your home and people can't support you? Calling on the phone is not the same." While many people are afraid to acknowledge depression, because of the stigma of mental illness, mourners know they can cry and wail at a funeral without being judged, Parker said. "What happens in the African American house stays in the house," Parker said. "There's a lot of things we don't talk about or share about." Funerals play an important psychological role in helping mourners process their loss, Bordere said. The ritual helps mourners move from denying that a loved one is gone to accepting "a new normal in which they will continue their life in the physical absence of the cared-about person." In many cases, death from covid comes suddenly, depriving people of a chance to mentally prepare for loss. While some families were able to talk to loved ones through FaceTime or similar technologies, many others were unable to say goodbye. Funerals and burial rites are especially important in the Black community and others that have been marginalized, Bordere said. "You spare no expense at a Black funeral," Bordere said. "The broader culture may have devalued this person, but the funeral validates this person's worth in a society that constantly tries to dehumanize them." In the early days of the pandemic, funeral directors afraid of spreading the coronavirus did not allow families to provide clothing for their loved ones' burials, Parker said. So beloved parents and grandparents were buried in whatever they died in, such as undershirts or hospital gowns. "They bag them and double-bag them and put them in the ground," Parker said. "It is an indignity." Coping With Loss Every day, something reminds Rollins of her losses. April brought the first anniversary of Shalondra's death. May brought Teacher Appreciation Week. Yet Rollins said the memory of her children keeps her going. When she begins to cry and thinks she will never stop, one thought pulls her from the darkness: "I know they would want me to be happy. I try to live on that." KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation. USE OUR CONTENTThis story can be republished for free (details). More than 5 million Americans lost a loved one to covid, and the ripple effects could lead to serious illness down the road. The post The 'Grief Pandemic' Will Torment Americans for Years appeared first on dWeb.News Tech News from Daniel Webster dWeb Internet Cowboy  |
| Readers and Tweeters React to Racism, Inequities in Health Care Posted: 02 Jun 2021 02:40 AM PDT dWeb.News Article from dWeb.News Tech News  Letters to the Editor is a periodic feature. We welcome all comments and will publish a selection. We edit for length and clarity and require full names. A Harrowing Tale of Racism I liked the article "The Making of Reluctant Activists: A Police Shooting in a Hospital Forces One Family to Rethink American Justice" (May 10). As a physician in Texas, I reached out to the senior Dr. Pean the day after the shooting. I encouraged the Harris County Medical Society to advocate for this family and got nowhere. I wrote several times to the then-current president of the medical society and got nowhere. Medicare threatened to shut down the hospital because of this incident and then the president of the medical society protested the shutdown but not the shooting. Although the president of the medical society was Latino, he showed no concern for the doctor's part-Latino son getting shot. I have stayed in touch with the family and have been pleased with their successes. — Dr. Robert Jackson, Houston Add hospitals to the long list of places where you will not be safe from a police shooting.https://t.co/Lo7Znn84u0 — s. e. smith (@sesmith) May 14, 2021 — S.E. Smith, Fort Bragg, Colorado The article about the Pean family is informative about this pernicious, persistent type of American racism. As a 70-year-old African American woman, I know it well. My question is, What is the health industry doing to alleviate the scourge that destroys the minds and bodies of people of color? Publishing a meaningful article on the Pean family is not enough. — Evonnie Gbadebo, Windsor, Connecticut Care Inequities Extend Beyond Race I'm tired of hearing about racial disparities ("Stark Racial Disparities Persist in Vaccinations, State-Level CDC Data Shows," May 20). How about some comments about people with disabilities who live independently and don't have caretakers to do everything for them? I had a negative experience at a local pharmacy getting my covid shots. The first shot, I bore with it but complained loudly about lack of accessibility. The second shot, nothing had changed so I made a bigger scene about it. I hope they finally got their act together, but I can't go to every single pharmacy in the country and tell them we need signage to tell us where to go for accessible service. (In this case, the pharmacy counter might have worked.) Also, they need to have their questions in writing, in advance. I'm not surprised that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data is incomplete. I haven't seen any stories about outreach to deaf or hard-of-hearing people either, and given that everyone is wearing masks, I found getting a shot unpleasant for lack of communication during the process. The waiting line was wholly audist-oriented with no hand signals, the questions were incomprehensibly spoken, and the drugstore had no signage to help anyone with disabilities. — Therese Shellabarger, North Hollywood, California 2/ Why isn’t this data available on @CDCgov‘s COVID Data Tracker? https://t.co/vwoLU6e04B Why did @KHNews have to make a public records request? — Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA (@celinegounder) May 20, 2021 — Dr. Céline Gounder, New York City The Push-Pull of Dentistry Here's another questionable dental revenue-generating tactic: When many dentists say, "We take all PPOs," it really means: "Even though we are out-of-network, we will bill your PPO instead of you having to submit an out-of-network claim." It's a common business practice in dentistry ("Why Your Dentist Might Seem Pushy," May 19). People get hit with surprise balance bills and think it's their "bad" insurance coverage instead of the intentionally misleading (and usually nonexistent) explanation of their dentist's out-of-network relationship with their insurance carrier. The front desk does this, the dentists themselves do this, and their webpages about insurance do it. And again, it all boils down to dentists generating more revenue than they otherwise would, either because they'd have to accept the lower contract rate if they were in-network or they'd outright lose the patient when they find out they are actually out-of-network. Making matters worse, some people "love" their dentist and don't take the time to research in-network dentists who they might also love if they went to them, so they pay the extra to stay with their dentist and figure it's "worth it." The widespread fear of dentistry plays into this, too — the dentists act nice, the patient likes them and believes they are therefore a good dentist because they are nice and the patient didn't have a bad dentistry experience, in the end creating loyalty that is then exploited with the PPO scam. Hashtag caveat emptor. — Jonathan Greer, Rockridge Health Insurance, Oakland, California After my previous dentist retired, he sold his practice to a new dentist. The new dentist immediately found many problems that weren’t a problem before.via @KHNews https://t.co/GjXR1N1piR — Harry Sit (@TheFinanceBuff) May 20, 2021 — Harry Sit, Reno, Nevada Dental Care Is Essential I write in response to your article "Why Your Dentist Might Seem Pushy" (May 19). The piece's lack of empirical or systemic data is troubling and dangerously downplays the important work done by dental professionals every day. There are often allegations of fraud and abuse in all industries, unfortunately including health care. However, the percentage of complaints has been consistently low in the dental industry. According to the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, each year roughly 5% of the $250 billion spent on dental care procedures are associated with alleged fraud or abuse, compared with up to 10% in other health care fields, as noted in the article. Suggesting that dentists regularly push unnecessary procedures to drive up profits is false and damaging to the dental profession and patients' perception of dentistry. Dentists provide essential care that keeps patients healthy. At the core of improving oral health is the dentists and their entire team who play a crucial role in providing safe and accessible health care for communities across the country, especially in underserved areas. Many studies have shown that that dental care is critical for early detection and prevention of diseases, including heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Additionally, more recent studies have shown that increased dental hygiene also greatly increases a patient's chances of surviving covid-19. Many of the Association of Dental Support Organizations members, in fact, provide charitable care and dentistry to thousands of patients annually. As executive director of the ADSO, I am proud of our members who always put patients and their safety first. Our members are enabling their supported dentists to focus on patients, expand access to underserved communities, and maintain high-quality standards for essential dental care and business operations. — Andrew Smith, executive director of the Association of Dental Support Organizations, Arlington, Virginia I recieved a Moderna vaccine, so this tells me, get the vaccine but still keep your distance from others. Hey I can do that because I am not a people person who hangs around big crowds anyway. https://t.co/WGACm78I1P — David Hodges (@DavidHo00768274) April 28, 2021 — David Hodges, Portland, Oregon A Footnote on Breakthrough Covid Cases Regarding Steven Findlay's article "The Shock and Reality of Catching Covid After Being Vaccinated" (April 16). First of all, Mr. Findlay, I am sorry to hear that you got covid after your second shot. That's a drag. But in your article, don't you think you might have given the wrong impression about the likelihood of this happening? You wrote: "A tiny but growing number are contending with the disturbing experience of getting covid-19 despite having had one shot — or even two." A "growing" number, I think, gives the wrong impression that the proportion of breakthrough cases is growing. That would be worrying. But isn't the number only "growing" because more people are getting vaccinated? In that case, it is entirely unremarkable that the number is growing, so why the "but"? I'm extremely concerned about vaccine hesitancy in this country, and I'm far more worried about your article reinforcing that hesitancy than I am about myself contracting a breakthrough case. — Jason Hodin, Friday Harbor, Washington And yet…https://t.co/rPZaEGw9b9So… tell me what it vaccinates against… — Chris Collins (@ChrisCollins504) May 2, 2021 — Chris Collins, New Orleans An Aha Moment on Stroke Care Thank you. I am more educated, and quite horrified, about the condition of the state of our state's and nation's health care predicament ("In Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, Millions Face Long Drives to Stroke Care," May 4). Your insightful investigative reporting should be a catalyst for communities to seek funding for our loved ones. I plan to share with my county commissioners and state legislators. Again, many thanks. — Judge Tammy Jackson Montgomery, Coatopa, Alabama An ugly truth beautifully told. You absolutely must read this. https://t.co/52bOLEOC9c — — Jessica Gottlieb, Los Angeles My Primary Care Physician Virtually Aced It Really excellent and insightful cautionary commentary on the "virtual medicine" phenomenon ("Telemedicine Is a Tool — Not a Replacement for Your Doctor's Touch," May 6). It is true that most of one's interactions with one's doctor are informational (assuming that one does not suffer from a dread disease). But communication via email is optimal only when one has an established relationship with the physician over time, and when the physician has access to the patient's rich electronic medical record (EMR). The best expression of the role of "virtual medicine" is the use of multi-modality communication between patient and primary care physician in the Kaiser Permanente model. I've been a KP Medicare Advantage member for over eight years, and my health status is managed as a collaboration with my KP primary care physician. In our initial intake physician exam, I told him I have a boring EMR, but I'm a whiner, so he could expect to hear from me regularly. I asked him to make sure that I continued to perform well on the tennis court. He responded by saying that it is a mutual responsibility. So, over the past eight years, we have communicated almost exclusively by email. He always responds within 24 hours, and usually by the end of the day. Twice during this period, I reported symptoms that could have indicated a serious clinical issue. In each case, the response was immediate, with a referral to a specialist(s) within KP who, of course, had access to my complete EMR. When I received a covid vaccination outside the KP network, we made sure that documentation was added to my EMR. So, within the KP model, "virtual medicine" is clinically efficient and cost-effective, because patient and physician are communicating within a very high-quality health care delivery system. Immediate access to well-informed clinicians is assured. This is very different from the many emerging for-profit ventures that promote services of dubious quality or clinical effectiveness — really, most are little more than rebranded, app-enhanced "nurse advice lines." Thanks for a great op-ed. — Tony Pfannkuche, Los Angeles Now is the time to reflect on how telemedicine will continue, so that we're not adding to/recreating the existing challenges in health care (e.g. access, inequity, cost, quality). #Telemedicine #TelemedNow https://t.co/amsaiMu2Uo — Torshira Moffett (@torshira) May 6, 2021 — Torshira Moffett, Washington, D.C. Public health systems all over the world were overwhelmed by #COVID19, even the best-funded ones. @GavinNewsom made the right moves. Which is why CA is a world leader in vaccination success. Single-payer countries? Not so much. — Steven Maviglio (@stevenmaviglio) May 6, 2021 — Steven Maviglio, Sacramento, California The Pandemic Demanded Workarounds This article's implicit conclusion of wrongdoing at the expense of a public agency is quite egregious and short-sighted ("Salesforce, Google, Facebook. How Big Tech Undermines California's Public Health System," May 6). This unprecedented health crisis needed quick, decisive actions and policies. The current bureaucracy has consistently proven itself to be too slow in response due to its many layers of management's accountability. The governor's working relationship with high tech was instrumental in keeping California's health crisis under control. Why people complain after the fact is representative of what is wrong currently in society, creating unnecessary division. I'm not saying unbridled praise should be heaped upon Gov. Newsom, but to look for negativity or wrongdoing for the sake of an article was pretty shallow. — Warren Young, San Francisco We unfortunately saw this to a degree in Utah as well. Now, experimentation can be a good thing but only happen after tried-and-true public health infrastructure has been properly funded. H/T: @StephMBurdick #utpol #utleg https://t.co/rKu3cSdk7Q — Tom Merrill (@SaltLakeTom) May 14, 2021 — Tom Merrill, Salt Lake City CHL link, May 18: https://californiahealthline.org/news/article/pandemic-seniors-lose-strength-conditioning-may-need-rehabilitative-services/ Bolstering Medicare Coverage to Keep Seniors Strong As you rightly point out, after 15 months of sheltering in place, older Americans are increasingly being negatively impacted by the indirect health effects of covid-19 — including loss of strength, mobility and independence ("As Pandemic Eases, Many Seniors Have Lost Strength, May Need Rehabilitative Services," May 21). For many seniors, this prolonged period of "physical deconditioning" has put them at serious risk of long-term disability, injuries and falls, which cause 2.8 million emergency room visits every year. Recognizing the long-term health impact of the pandemic on America's seniors, physical therapy services will only grow in importance. That's why it's troubling that Medicare has chosen to push forward with significant payment cuts for physical, occupational and speech therapy services. Though Congress temporarily reduced the cuts last year, our specialty faced one of the steepest declines in Medicare spending — a whopping 34% — during the first six months of 2020. As demand for our services grows, it is critical for Medicare to protect seniors' access to the medically necessary therapy services they need. Instead of implementing these devastating cuts in 2022 and beyond, Medicare should rethink its approach to ensure stability to the system and, ultimately, improve the health and independence of older Americans. — Nikesh Patel, executive director, Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation (APTQI), Washington, D.C. In pain and crisis, when someone w/SUD is ready for help, she may not be able to research a facility’s quality. We need standards & accountability. “Addiction Treatment Providers in Pa. Face Little State Scrutiny Despite Harm to Clients https://t.co/y3If2bU2eo via @khnews — Kristin Gourlay (@kristingourlay) April 30, 2021 — Kristin Gourlay, Oak Park, Illinois Altering Mindsets on Addiction Although I haven't been personally affected by the addiction/overdose crisis, I still understand the callous politics involved with this most serious social issue ("Addiction Treatment Providers in Pa. Face Little State Scrutiny Despite Harm to Clients," April 30). The mere mention of government funding to make proper treatment available to low- and no-income hard-drug addicts, however much it would alleviate their great suffering, generates firm opposition by the general socially and fiscally conservative electorate. The reaction is largely due to the preconceived notion that drug addicts are but weak-willed and/or have somehow committed a moral crime. Ignored is that such intense addiction usually does not originate from a bout of boredom, where a person repeatedly consumed recreationally but became heavily hooked on an unregulated often-deadly chemical that eventually destroyed their life and even that of a loved one. The greater the drug-induced euphoria or escape one attains from its use, the more one wants to repeat the experience; and the more intolerable one finds their sober reality, the more pleasurable that escape should be perceived. By extension, the greater one's mental pain or trauma while sober, the greater the need for escape from reality, thus the more addictive the euphoric escape-form will likely be. Regardless, we now know pharmaceutical corporations intentionally pushed their very addictive opiate painkillers (perhaps the real moral crime), for which they got off relatively lightly, considering the resulting immense suffering and overdose death numbers. — Frank Sterle Jr., White Rock, British Columbia @aneripattani @edmahonreporter @SpotlightPA @PhillyInquirer What you both uncovered is the disparity is the depth of corruption within PA Dept of Human ServicesThe truth: When nothing makes sense-something more heinous is taking placeThere is no accountability within PA DHS https://t.co/CeBtKc9kTK — Angela Biesecker (@Abiesecker) May 7, 2021 — Angela Biesecker, Philadelphia Going to Bat for Nurse Anesthetists As the covid-19 outlook improves, the toll on health care providers caused by the virus is unprecedented. Nurses have risked their lives as they dealt with shortages of protective equipment, medications and personnel — all while infections, hospitalizations and deaths from the disease soared. Yet nurses have risen to the challenges, courageously caring and providing life-sustaining services to millions of patients. So, why do some question a nurse's right to practice to the full extent of their education and training? Nurses do most of their demanding work out of the public eye. And even less understood by the public is the number of specialties in nursing, particularly those of advanced practice registered nurses. Consider the "nurse anesthetist" or Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNAs). Unless you have had surgery and/or delivered a baby, chances are you have never heard of the highly educated, expertly trained CRNA. Surveys show that more than 70% of CRNAs report treating covid patients. We have seen these health care professionals travel to hot spots to provide lifesaving care. Because of a CRNA's expertise in airway and ventilation management and other critical care skills, CRNAs have become a highly sought-after health care provider — capturing the attention of the federal government. Recognizing the need for CRNAs to be working to the top of their training, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services waived the federal physician supervision requirements for nurse anesthetists. Because of the temporary changes to the law, CRNAs have been able to safely fill essential health care needs during the national crisis. A new report from the National Academy of Medicine, "The Future of Nursing 2020-2030," prioritized several opportunities in the nursing profession for eliminating health care disparities, including the permanent removal of barriers to nursing care that were enacted in response to the pandemic. It also calls for allowing nurses to practice to the full extent of their education and training as well as ensuring that they can bill for those services. So, why snatch back a CRNA's full practice rights, after hundreds of thousands of patients received safe, exceptional, life-sustaining care before and during the pandemic? Some special interest groups argue that the federal physician supervision requirement is necessary, asserting that the waiver lowers the standard of care and risks patients' lives. This kind of fearmongering lacks true evidence and attempts to confuse the public. Nurse anesthetists are highly educated practitioners whose patient safety records stand for themselves. In fact, 42 U.S. states do not require physician supervision of a CRNA in their state nurse practice act. Now is the time to put an end to any type of pronouncement that questions the role, value and safety of CRNA-delivered care. — Steven M. Sertich, president of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, Park Ridge, Illinois KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation. USE OUR CONTENTThis story can be republished for free (details). Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. The post Readers and Tweeters React to Racism, Inequities in Health Care appeared first on dWeb.News Tech News from Daniel Webster dWeb Internet Cowboy  |
| Exploring Wiltshire with Pevsner: The Estate Villages of Joseph Neeld Posted: 02 Jun 2021 02:40 AM PDT dWeb.News Article from yalebooks dWeb.News Tech News  The estate villages of Joseph Neeld are a remarkably complete set in the picturesque styles of the earlier nineteenth-century. They are often left in the metaphorical 'shadow' of the history of Grittleton House but in this piece Wiltshire guide author Julian Orbach leaves Neeld's impressive mansion aside, and instead focuses on the complex architectural makeup of the villages themselves which stemmed from a unique collaboration between Neeld and his architect: James Thomson. Find out more about the revised Pevsner Architectural Guide to Wiltshire on our website. Dive deeper into the architectural history of Wiltshire …In 1827, aged 39, Joseph Neeld, a lawyer in Hendon, inherited the fortune of his great-uncle, Philip Rundell, whom he had looked after for many years. Rundell, Bridge & Rundell were the leading silversmiths of the age, and Philip Rundell one of the few known millionaires of the era. Neeld purchased the Grittleton Estate near Chippenham in 1828, and then everything went very publicly wrong. His marriage with Lord Shaftesbury's daughter in 1831 broke up within months in a storm of accusation, but at the root was possibly Neeld's illegitimate daughter, whose descendants eventually inherited everything. Neeld lived on for twenty-five years, as landowner and M.P., having bought himself into parliament in 1830, representing Chippenham until his death in 1856. He gave the town a town hall in 1833. James Thomson: ArchitectOver those twenty-five years Neeld enlarged Grittleton House to enormous scale, surrounded with stables and lodges, and rebuilt most of the villages of Grittleton, Alderton, Leigh Delamere and Sevington; scattering model farms over the land between. His villages were provided with churches, schools, vicarages and many cottages. Nearly everything that Neeld built was designed by one architect, James Thomson (1800-83), a Scot from Melrose assisting John Nash on the Regent's Park terraces before being picked in 1827 to 'improve' a sketch by Neeld for a memorial school in Rundell's native village of Norton St Philip, Somerset. Designing Neeld Estate CottagesEstate villages combine the personalities of owner and architect. Neeld began in the 1830s with cottages in pairs mostly, designed to a standard of utility rather than ornament, and each with a generous piece of garden and a pig-sty. The house was enlarged at first with caution. By the 1840s both client and architect had found confidence in their architectural vision, evolving a more picturesque style of gables, oriel windows and turrets. The contrast can clearly be seen when comparing the plain school of 1832 at Alderton (1) with its replacement of 1844-5 (2), which has medieval pieces from the village church reused in a pretty tower. Thomson was already straining for effect on two lodges of 1835 in Grittleton, each with impossibly tall turrets (3) reputedly for when announcing Neeld's approach by semaphore – a good story marred by the fact that the essential tower on the house was not started until 1847. (1) Alderton, Church Cottage, former village school of 1832.(2) Alderton, School building, c.1844-45, featuring medieval doorway. (3) Grittleton, Crowdown, c.1835, with five-stage turret, reputedly for semaphoring Neeld's approach. By the time Neeld rebuilt Leigh Delamere and Sevington in 1846-50, Thomson was showing a fondness for triangular bay windows and oriels, indeed for oriels in general, both in cut Bath stone and timber. Triangular bays appear on the Leigh Delamere almshouses of 1848 and several of the Sevington cottages of 1849-50 (4), little triangular oriels on West Sevington Farm, 1849, a half-round oriel on the Leigh Delamere vicarage of 1846, and square oriels on West Foscote Farm of 1850 over a triangular stone porch (5). The two farmhouses are very grand indeed, with the domed stone cupola of West Foscote rising over the flat country still visible south of the M4. (6) Sevington, Sevington School by James Thomson, 1848-9, incorporating parts from Leigh Delamere church. Archaeological & Architectural AccuracyThe story of Leigh Delamere church and the school at Sevington shows a cavalier attitude to medieval buildings already suggested in the reuse of parts from Alderton church in the school there. Thomson wrote a sensitive account of the medieval Leigh Delamere church in 1848 and said that everything that could be preserved had been, which does not explain why the salvaged pieces were preserved on the school at Sevington rather than on the reconstructed Leigh Delamere church. Thomson copied the church's fourteenth-century bellcote and south arcade at Leigh Delamere, but the mighty original bellcote, the chancel arch, the reredos and some tracery are all down the road on the school (6), the chancel arch serving as a porch in a strikingly picturesque composition. Finishing Grittleton House(7) Engraving of Grittleton House from The Builder (Vol. XI – No. 534), 1853. Thomson was never archaeologically correct and it seems that Neeld did not mind until, in 1853, The Builder published an engraving (7) of Grittleton House as intended to be finished. The confusion of Italianate and neo-Romanesque elements seems to have inspired ridicule, such that Neeld replaced Thomson with Henry Clutton, who tidied up the design with Jacobean gables. But Neeld soon felt that he had been happier with the previous arrangement, sacked Clutton and returned to Thomson who finished the house after Neeld died in 1856. The central crossing of the hallways, rising through three storeys, is one of the unforgettable spaces of Victorian England and memorial to the long collaboration (8) of Neeld and Thomson. All photos taken by Julian Orbach unless stated otherwise. Julian Orbach is author of the revised edition of Somerset: South and West (2014) and co-author of Pembrokeshire (2004), Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion (2006), and Gwynedd (2009) in The Buildings of Wales series. Find out more about Wiltshire on our website, or ask for it at your local bookshop. Passionate about Pevsner?Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for bonus content from the Wiltshire guide, and forthcoming volumes in the series. You can also sign up to the Pevsner Post mailing list to keep up-to-date with all the latest Pevsner news and access exclusive book discounts. The post Exploring Wiltshire with Pevsner: The Estate Villages of Joseph Neeld appeared first on Yale University Press London Blog. Yale University Press London Blog The post Exploring Wiltshire with Pevsner: The Estate Villages of Joseph Neeld appeared first on dWeb.News Tech News from Daniel Webster dWeb Internet Cowboy  |
| Billionaire Investor George Soros Strongly Recommends to Buy Coursera’s Stock Posted: 02 Jun 2021 01:42 AM PDT dWeb.News Article from dWeb.News Tech News IBL News | New York The controversial billionaire investor George Soros — whose hedge fund has earned an average annualized return of 33% from 1970 to 2020 — has strongly recommended this month buying Coursera's stock (COUR). Moreover, Coursera is one of the three "Strong Buy" stocks recommended, along with luxury goods and brands Fartech, Ltd (FTCH) and Sotera Health (SHC), according to Nasdaq.com. Soros Fund Management took a position of 105,000 shares, valued at $4 million, at Coursera's IPO at the end of March this year. Overall, the IPO raised $519 million, before expenses. In this regard, 5-star analyst Ryan MacDonald, of Needham, laid out a clear case: "Given the increasing role of automation, the widening skills gap, and the shift to online learning, we believe Coursera's comprehensive platform will help it gain share in a large TAM that we size between $47B-$50.6B." To this end, MacDonald rates COUR shares a Buy and his $56 price target indicate confidence in a 47% upside over the next 12 months. Despite analysts' support, the stock is at $38.53, below its opening on March 31 when it closed at $45. Yesterday, Coursera announced that 16 new universities and higher ed institutions across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa embraced its initiative of Coursera for Campus. On the other hand, Tencent Cloud will roll out in the coming months, several courses designed to develop in-demand cloud skills, starting with the beginner-level Tencent Cloud Practitioner class. More News at https://dWeb.News The post Billionaire Investor George Soros Strongly Recommends to Buy Coursera's Stock appeared first on dWeb.News Tech News from Daniel Webster dWeb Internet Cowboy  |
| June’s Bookshop of the Month – Sam Read Bookseller Posted: 02 Jun 2021 01:42 AM PDT dWeb.News Article from dWeb.News Tech News  For June’s Bookshop of the Month, we headed to the Lake District to visit Sam Read Bookseller. From Wordsworth, Coleridge and the Romantics, to John Ruskin, Beatrix Potter, EM Forster, Arthur Ransome and Malcolm Lowry, this award-winning independent bookshop in the heart of Grasmere lays claim to a number of impressive literary connections. Established by Sam Read in 1887, we spoke to Elaine, the current owner, about the shop’s celebrated history! 1. Named after the celebrated Victorian, Sam Read Bookseller is steeped in literary history. What’s it like running a bookshop with such a fascinating background?It is most certainly a privilege to be the owner of such a prestigious bookshop! 2. You’ve remained independent for almost 135 years, which you must be really proud of. Do you think being independent affects the way you do business or how you deal with customers? If so, how?I’m sure being independent affects how we operate. Obviously, we can choose what we want to sell and this means we can offer our target audience exactly what they are looking for. Also, the service element is so crucial in what we do and, although a large proportion of our customers are spread out over the globe, they really do appreciate the lengths we go to source titles and supply them as quickly and efficiently as possible. 3. What’s it like running one of the oldest bookshops in the Lake District? How have you seen the area change over the years?Apart from the Gingerbread shop, we are the longest serving shop in the village – everyone knows Sam Read’s and, although other businesses around us come and go, we so appreciate seeing successive generations of book-loving families come through our door. The Lake District, always historically a seasonal holiday destination, has seen trade bloom year round in more recent years. Sadly, we have lost most of our community-based businesses in favour of tourist-oriented ventures – my husband was born in the village and remembers butchers, garages, greengrocers, a bakery – indeed Grasmere, like most villages, was largely self sufficient. Fortunately, however, the bookshop continues to thrive, helped along too by the numerous literary connections we have here, ranging from Wordsworth, the Lake Poets and Ruskin, to Beatrix Potter, Arthur Ransome, and Alfred Wainwright, to name but a few. 4. Last year was a landmark and challenging year for independent bookshops around the world. Given the restrictions we’re all experiencing during this pandemic, how has Sam Read Bookseller fared?There is no doubt that last year was a challenging one, as it was for all businesses. Despite our physical doors being closed, we adapted by creating a successful online shop as well as offering a click and collect service for people living nearby. We saw orders come in from loyal Sam Read customers far and wide and we were proud to be able to supply them with all their lockdown literary requirements. 5. And finally, do you have any exciting plans for the shop in the coming months that you’d like to share with us?It is lovely, however, to have been able to re-open our doors in April and we are looking forward to a busy summer/autumn ahead – no special plans but hopefully lots of happy customers to keep the Sam Read name going into the future. To learn more about Sam Read Bookseller, check out their website, blog, Twitter, Instagram pages online, or pop into their shop in Grasmere! Feedzy The post June’s Bookshop of the Month – Sam Read Bookseller appeared first on dWeb.News Tech News from Daniel Webster dWeb Internet Cowboy  |
| Amazon Prime Day set for June 21-22; tech giant turns to actor Kristen Bell to help counter critics Posted: 02 Jun 2021 12:44 AM PDT dWeb.News Article from Todd Bishop dWeb.News Tech News  Actor and small business owner Kristen Bell speaks about Amazon and small businesses during a recorded press briefing video. Amazon confirmed Tuesday night that it will hold its annual Prime Day sales event on Monday June 21 and Tuesday June 22. The company will use the event this year not just to boost sales but to deliver a promotional counterpunch. With its programs for third-party sellers under an antitrust microscope, the company is bringing in actors and television personalities Kristen Bell, Karomo Brown, and Mindy Kaling to promote its economic impact on small businesses around the country. "At the heart of making Prime Day is our incredible seller community, small and medium sized businesses that enable Amazon to deliver a great experience for customers on Prime Day and throughout the year," said Dave Clark, the Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO, in a video played during a virtual Amazon press briefing. Dave Clark, Amazon Consumer CEO. Clark added, "COVID-19 has created a lot of challenges for these businesses, and they've shown incredible resilience and creativity. I've been inspired to see the many brick and mortar businesses adapt by making the pivot to online selling with us, helping keep their employees working throughout the pandemic." Amazon's focus on small businesses during the event isn't new. However, this year's announcement comes amid a new lawsuit from the Washington, D.C., attorney general alleges that Amazon illegally manipulates the e-commerce market to its own advantage by penalizing third-party sellers that offer products at lower prices on other platforms. "Amazon has used its dominant position in the online retail market to win at all costs. It maximizes its profits at the expense of third-party sellers and consumers, while harming competition, stifling innovation, and illegally tilting the playing field in its favor," said Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl A. Racine in announcing the suit. Bell, known for roles in Veronica Mars, The Good Place and Frozen, offered a very different perspective during the Amazon virtual press briefing. "I just want to thank and acknowledge Amazon for its big-time commitment to working with hundreds of thousands of small businesses … throughout the year, but especially for Prime Day," Bell said. She's an entrepreneur herself, with a line of plant-based baby care products called Hello Bello. (Yes, it has Amazon store.) In a recorded video shown during the briefing, Bell interviewed two third-party sellers, Kyle Goguen of Pawstruck and Kennedy Lowery of Live by Being, who spoke about the benefits of Amazon's online reach and distribution capabilities. The interview did not address Amazon's pricing policies for third-party sellers. Third-party sellers generated more than $3.5 billion in sales during last year's Prime Day, the two biggest days ever for sellers, said Keri Cusick, Amazon's head of small business empowerment, in the press briefing video. That was up 60% year-over-year, exceeding the growth rate for Amazon's own retail sales, she said. More than 2 million deals will be available globally, said Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime, in the video. Prime Day creates a second peak season for Amazon's fulfillment workers. Internal Amazon numbers in a report last year by Reveal, a publication of The Center for Investigative Reporting, disputes assertions from Amazon executives that injury rates do not rise around peak times. Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of labor unions, published a study Tuesday that it said showed Amazon fulfillment centers had 5.9 serious injuries for every 100 employees, a rate nearly 80% higher than at non-Amazon warehouses. Prime Day began in 2015. This year's event comes amid a changing of the guard at Amazon. Founder Jeff Bezos will officially step down as CEO on June 5, remaining as executive chairman. He will be succeeded as CEO by Amazon Web Services leader Andy Jassy. It's the first Prime Day for Clark in his current position. He previously ran Amazon's logistics and fulfilment operations. PREVIOUSLY: Amazon backs legal pot, mellows on employee testing and tracking Note: Prime Day 2021 dates corrected since publication. Amazon confirmed Tuesday night that it will hold its annual Prime Day sales event on Monday June 21 and Tuesday June 22. The company will use the event this year not just to boost sales but to deliver a promotional counterpunch. With its programs for third-party sellers under an antitrust microscope, the company is bringing in actors and television personalities Kristen Bell, Karomo Brown, and Mindy Kaling to promote its economic impact on small businesses around the country. "At the heart of making Prime Day is our incredible seller community, small and medium sized businesses that enable Amazon to deliver… Read MoreAmazon, Andy Jassy, Dave Clark, Kristen Bell, Prime Day The post Amazon Prime Day set for June 21-22; tech giant turns to actor Kristen Bell to help counter critics appeared first on dWeb.News Tech News from Daniel Webster dWeb Internet Cowboy  |
| Cosmonauts Exit Station and Begin Spacewalk Posted: 02 Jun 2021 12:44 AM PDT dWeb.News Article from Mark Garcia dWeb.News Tech News  Cosmonauts (from left) Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov are conducting their first career spacewalks together. Expedition 65 Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos began a spacewalk when they opened the hatch of the Poisk docking compartment airlock of the International Space Station at 1:53 a.m. EDT. Novitskiy is designated as extravehicular crew member 1 (EV1) and is wearing a Russian Orlan spacesuit with red stripes. Dubrov is wearing a spacesuit with blue stripes as extravehicular crew member 2 (EV2). Coverage of the spacewalk continues on NASA Television and the agency's website. Views from a camera on Novitskiy's helmet are designated with the number 20, and Dubrov's is labeled with the number 18. Learn more about station activities by following @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts. Expedition 65, Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency, International Space Station, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, NASA, Roscosmos, spacewalk The post Cosmonauts Exit Station and Begin Spacewalk appeared first on dWeb.News Tech News from Daniel Webster dWeb Internet Cowboy  |
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