Here’s this week’s Sour Grapes; enjoy!
Columns
A look at What’sUpNewp’s latest columns.
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Dr. Michael Fine: Why it’s crazy we don’t have community paramedicine everywhere in Rhode Island
One of the things driving health care cost increases in the US is the way people use emergency rooms for routine medical care. Between 40 and 88 percent of all emergency room visits are for diseases and conditions that don’t require hospitalization – for colds and sore throats and simple sprains, headaches and back pain. […]
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Gerry Goldstein: No password necessary to read this essay
“Halt! Who goes there?” According to Marine Order 5530.15, this is the proper challenge a U.S. military sentry must issue when approached by unknown parties. The challenge can sometimes require a password in return – and any of us who work online can attest that even in contemporary civilian life, that elusive secret “word” hangs […]
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Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about health care in Lithuania
I’ve just returned from a brief research trip to Lithuania, which wasn’t focused on health care. But while I was there, I had the opportunity to discuss the Lithuanian health care system with a colleague who runs the district health center of a small Lithuanian city. I learned that Lithuania, like most of Europe and […]
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At Jo’s American Bistro, it’s the people who continue to define the experience
Restaurants inevitably evolve. Owners retire, chefs come and go, menus change, and dining trends shift with the times. In a community like Newport, where people form deep connections with local businesses, change can sometimes be met with hesitation. That’s understandable. Many of us have celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, and life’s milestones around the same tables for […]
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If the walls could talk: Revolutionary voices from behind the frame
I spend a lot of time in Newport’s fine art and cultural institutions: attending events, admiring the portraits and fine artwork on the walls, and feeling very fortunate to be a part of this historic, yet ever-evolving City-by-the-Sea. As I have been enjoying history lectures, book talks, Juneteenth events, museum openings, and exhibit previews this […]
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Book review: Neil deGrasse Tyson’s ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ is less etiquette guide than cosmic musing
I was expecting “Take Me To Your Leader: Perspectives On Your First Alien Encounter” to offer lots of insightful tips from famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on how to behave, what to say, and what questions to ask if a space alien were to come knocking at my front door. In fact, the back blurb […]
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Just My Opinion: Independence Day
What is America? We are white, black, brown, red, yellow … we are the rainbow. We are Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, evangelicals, atheist, agnostic. We embrace all who worship and those that do not. We are Latino American Indian, Asian, German, French, English, Italian, Irish, African, Portuguese, Iranian, Israeli, multi-racial and multi-cultural. We come […]
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Involuntary: The independence we struggle to protect
On June 12, at CCRI, there was a free, invitation-only, screening of Involuntary, a 13-minute, short film followed by a moderated panel discussion featuring award-winning filmmakers, Dana White and Chris Knoblock; Rhode Island State Representative Lauren Carson; Elizabeth Shields,MD, a family medicine physician in private-pay practice; Partanja Spann, Director of Rhode Island Outreach for Newport […]
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Three storylines that will define Rhode Island’s housing market this summer
Every week, I have conversations with buyers, sellers, investors, lenders, attorneys, and fellow brokers across Rhode Island. While no one has a crystal ball, a few themes continue to surface that I believe will define our housing market this summer.Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. alongside fellow members of […]
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Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about decent medical care
I ran into my friend Bert last night and we got to talking. “I hear you guys talking about medical care, about how it is for-profit and lots of people are using it to make too much money on the backs of communities,” he said. “But my care is great. I go to Oak Street. […]
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Gerry Goldstein: On America’s 250th, where are we heading?
As we approach the Fourth of July and our nation’s 250th anniversary, here is something I learned from a great American, “Publius:” “The accumulation of all power, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many…may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” Publius did not tell me […]
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Michele Gallagher: Summer in the City-by-the-Sea has something for everyone
The Newport Flower Show, hosted annually by the Preservation Society of Newport County at Rosecliff mansion, is the official bellwether of summer in Newport. It helps that this event is typically planned around the summer solstice when Aquidneck Islanders are clamoring for sunshine and longer days. This year commemorated the event’s 30th anniversary and the […]
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Gerry Goldstein: ChatGPT gets something off its chest
In our era when many worry that Artificial Intelligence is gobbling up jobs, it’s instructive to remember John Henry – and I don’t mean the one who owns the Red Sox and the Boston Globe. I’m talking about the hammer-wielding rock splitter who in 19th Century folklore protested mightily against a steam-powered drill that threatened […]
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Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about sending a 102-year-old home from rehab on a Friday
A 102-year-old man I know is likely to be sent home from rehab today. This 102-year-old man lives in another state. Until three weeks ago, he was driving, playing tennis, and living in his own home. Over the last few months, he developed leg swelling and then shortness of breath, likely the result of some heart […]
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The wisdom we carry: Celebrating the voices of older adults by listening to their lived experiences
“I want to live in a world where we aren’t focused on what aging takes away from us, but rather what it gives to us,” Helen Hames, founder of Age Ambassador and a regular contributor to What’s Up Newp, told a standing-room-only, multi-generational audience last week. “As I began listening more deeply to the older […]
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Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about Hantavirus and Ebola
Hantavirus on a ship, spreading person to person. Ebola spreading in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Uganda. 13 cases of Hantavirus, with three deaths. Over a thousand known cases of Ebola, with 17 confirmed and about 240 suspected deaths. What’s the world coming to? Is this the Zombie Apocalypse? My first advice is to […]
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Gerry Goldstein: Strength isn’t always what it seems
The pundits and TV talking heads have recently bandied about a relatively new term, “asymmetrical war.” As it suggests, this refers to a conflict in which one of the combatants is militarily far stronger than the other. The term was created in 1975 by the late political scientist Andrew J. R. Mack, whose seminal essay […]