Apple wants a bite of the Veterans' Healthcare Market

VeteransPolicy.org<execdirector@veteranspolicy.org>

11/26/2018 5:06 PM

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Apple sees potential profit in Veterans Healthcare Data Apple is looking at the Department of Veterans Affairs as its way into a larger healthcare information market. And unlike most private health providers, they’re not cloaking their intentions. Read more from The Verge: This deal with Veterans Affairs would mark a significantly larger investment in the healthcare space for Apple, which has been using its Health app and Apple Watch wearable to try and break into the multi-trillion dollar market. The Apple Watch measures a user’s heart rate and other fitness metrics, and the newest Series 4 model is capable of performing an electrocardiogram, or EKG, for which it successfully sought FDA approval. Apple has also been allowing patients to share info with specialized medical apps using its CareKit platform, and provides the ResearchKit platform for medical studies. Back in February, it was reported that Apple is launching its own medical clinics for employees and their families, under the AC Wellness brand. Apple isn’t alone in its quest to become a tech-focused player in the healthcare market, which has resisted efforts from Silicon Valley to improve the availability of patient health records due to a number of technological and privacy hurdles. ‘Groundless’ Charges in Manchester VA  From the New Hampshire Union Leader: A Trump administration watchdog group concluded that most of the allegations whistleblowers at the Manchester VA Medical Center have made regarding the leadership style of upper management were groundless. Dr. Michael Mayo-Smith, the VA’s regional network director who was forced into retirement due to fallout from the whistleblower scandal, said he had to hire a lawyer to get this 10-month-old, 25-page report from the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. “It is somewhat embarrassing the VA took the rather abrupt action against the local and regional leadership only to find out that there was not a basis for it,” Mayo-Smith said during an interview. A history of unreliable sources and groundless accusations... From Suzanne Gordon and Jasper Craven’s piece Unreliable Sources – how political operatives and corporate funders influenced media coverage around veterans healthcare: A similar story played out last summer at the VA hospital in Manchester, New Hampshire. Last July, the Boston Globe Spotlight Team reported on serious allegations at the Manchester hospital, from botched surgeries to a fly infestation. The investigation led to a string of embarrassing national headlines, the immediate dismissal of top Manchester managers, as well as pledged reforms from agency brass. Concerned Veterans for America highlighted the Manchester report on their “#VAFail” blog. After the allegations surfaced, the former network director, Dr. Michael Mayo-Smith, penned a scathing op-ed in the Concord Monitor pushing back on the troubling allegations made by the Manchester whistleblowers, noting that the VA had found “no systematic breakdowns in patient care” and graded leadership as “engaged and responsive to problems.” “Unsubstantiated allegations have come to be accepted as fact,” he wrote. “Careers and reputations have been damaged. Veterans have hesitated in seeking VA services. Individuals have used the allegations for personal and political gain.” In an interview, Dr. Mayo-Smith poked holes in various allegations made in the Spotlight report, and accused the chief whistleblower, of being “largely driven by political and personal motivations.” A September report from the VA’s Inspector General report found no wrongdoing or neglect at the Manchester hospital. Dr. Mayo-Smith noted that Manchester administrators were aware of the issues before the Globe report, and had actually submitted ten written reports to national VA leadership describing problems and plans for remediation. When Dr. Mayo-Smith and others looked to push back against the report, they were silenced by national VA press staff. “The approach that was being taken at the national level was a philosophy of no response,” he said. “When you put this hospital under a microscope, things weren’t perfect. But to say there were serious breakdowns in care was not substantiated.” Read more on Unreliable Sources. TONIGHT, Nov. 26: Join Suzanne Gordon at Phoenix Books in Burlington, Vermont at 7 p.m. for her latest stop in the Wounds of War Book Tour. New York City on Nov. 27 at PNHP New York City on Nov. 28 at Weill Cornell Medical School New York City on Nov. 29 at Community Church St. Paul / Minneapolis on Nov. 30 Oakland, California on Dec. 11 Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., California on Dec. 13 Click here to see all the tour details A Life Turned Around A Vietnam veteran living in Detroit struggled with homelessness and PTSD for years. After an intervention from his family, he found himself inside the Detroit VA community. Then he started caring for other veterans. From Crains Detroit Business: Finally, in 2008, Spencer's sister Belinda and her husband rescued him from an abandoned home where he had lived the past seven years. "I didn't need any help. I didn't want any help. ... They put me in her car. I must have smelled like a ton of garbage. "'Why you here doing this?' She said, 'You are coming with me.' She tricked me, telling me she had a hot meal. 'Come home with me.' She knew what I liked. Pork chops and rice and corn. I had the plate right in front of me. I dug into it. It took me an hour to eat. I forgot how to use forks and knives," Spencer said. After a week at his sister's house, Spencer said he had another surprise: A visit to the Detroit VA, a place he didn't want to go because it had doctors. "I was afraid of white coats," he said. Spencer objected, but dreamed up a plan. He would go to the VA, get a physical, then come home, take some money and leave for his abandoned house. "If they don't let me I would jump off the Belle Isle bridge," he said. But at the VA, Spencer was surprised again. "I got down here and I was terrified, trembling, and the social worker named Irma (who has since passed away), told me, 'Welcome home, soldier.' I never heard that in my life. I cried. I tell others that now. I never had anybody treat me so nice. The officers were very gentle with me." No So Automatic Benefits for ALS Veterans Mishandled benefits claims led to dozens of veterans with Lou Gehrig’s disease without financial support. Read the story at The Washington Post. Save the Date: November 29 at 10:30 a.m. ET The House Veterans Affairs Committee will meet to discuss ‘VA’s Development and Implementation of Policy Initiatives.’ Click here for the HVAC post. Quick Clicks: Crains Detroit Business: Detroit veterans’ suicide risk decreases The Hill: Union Leader Gives Thanks for VA Workers Danville Commercial News: A VA Program Manager in the Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Program walks through areas of specialized care Copyright © 2018 Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute, All rights reserved. You’ve subscribed to the Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute newsletter (formerly FFVHC). Our mailing address is: 4081 Norton Ave. Oakland, CA 94602 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Melania Trump's Subversive GivingTuesday Call to Resist? Courage to Resist Jeff Paterson

Melania Trump's Subversive GivingTuesday Call to Resist?

Courage to Resist Jeff Paterson<jeff.paterson@couragetoresist.org>

11/27/2018 3:09 PM

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Is Melania Trump's holiday "blood forest" a subversive call to resist war? Hi Alfred. In the spirit of First Lady Melania Trump’s “Be Best” initiative to “focus on some of the major issues facing children today,” please consider a “Giving Tuesday” contribution to Courage to Resist. Given our government’s backing of Saudi bombing of children in Yemen, to the gassing of refugee children on the US border with Mexico last week, it is possible that Melania’s holiday decorations featuring blood-red trees is a call to resist war. It may be a call for people to support the troops who refuse to fight—from the so-called “Global War on Terror” to her husband's “War on Immigrants and People of Color”. “Be best. Resist!” is something that Ms. Trump has not yet said, to the best of our knowledge, but might say at some point in the future. D O N A T E Giving Tuesday ps. We had a little fun with this. If you're looking for the latest news on resistance to Trump's fake war (with real casualties) along the southern border, please visit couragetoresist.org.

COURAGE TO RESIST ~ SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT!
484 Lake Park Ave #41, Oakland, California 94610 ~ 510-488-3559
www.couragetoresist.org ~ facebook.com/couragetoresist

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Only A Few Hours Remaining - Double Your Gift Today! David Ragland | The Truth Telling Project

Only A Few Hours Remaining - Double Your Gift Today!

David Ragland | The Truth Telling Project<thetruthtellingproject@gmail.com>

11/27/2018 8:01 PM

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GIVE NOW & YOUR GIFT DOUBLES! The Truth Telling Project is cultivating a mutually reciprocal relationship with Teaching Tolerance, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s educational resource. In 2019, we are taking the testimonies we have gathered and building them into a national network of teaching resources to educate about White supremacy. This will enable both our organizations to further our mission of teaching educators and youth about race, racism, and police violence. We have been invited to contribute to Teaching Tolerance’s resources for teachers, their August on-line newsletter, and organizing professional development workshops for teachers to design curriculum for use alongside our go-to educational online resource, “It’s Time to Listen”.  We need your help to make this & more happen! TODAY ONLY: Double your contributions via our Facebook Fundraiser! In the spirit of Give Tuesday Facebook will be matching all donations made through our fundraiser. Our deepest thanks for your support. We look forward to connecting with you again soon! Love always, The Truth Telling Family    GIVE ON FACEBOOK!

This email was sent to alfredjohnson34@comcast.net why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences The Truth Telling Project · 8420 Delmar Blvd Ste 500A · Saint Louis, MO 63124-2180 · USA

 

Out In Woody Allen’s Be-Bop New York City- “Manhattan”-A Film Review

Out In Woody Allen’s Be-Bop New York City- “Manhattan”-A Film Review

Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for Woody Allen’s Manhattan.

DVD Review

Manhattan, Woody Allen, Mariel Hemingway, 1979

In his own off-hand, low-key way Woody Allen, the quintessential New Yorker, has created a nice spoof/send up/valentine to his beloved city. If one were to name the person who represented the essence of middle/high brow New York in the 1970’s and 80’s the name Woody Allen would top most lists. The theme, as usual in an Allen film, is about the endlessly tangled interpersonal relationships among and between the upwardly mobile, or at least wannabe upward mobile, intellectual set in 1970’s New York. An added twist, given later developments in Allen’s personal life, is his tangled romance with a teenaged Waspish type (played by Hemingway), a type that he is seemingly fatally attracted to. Some of the wit may seem dated as it relates to 1970’s New York; some of Allen’s physical mannerisms seem very familiar and for those who have seen his later work the theme has been done better but here is Allen in his city. This is one of the reasons why New York, and no other, is the cultural capital of America. Beat him if you can.

Please support VFP's longest running project, your help still needed - Veterans For Peace Iraq Water Project

Please support VFP's longest running project, your help still needed

d

Veterans For Peace Iraq Water Project was founded twenty years ago to help address the disastrous absence of clean water throughout Iraq, one of the legacies of US Iraq policy. Contaminated water hospitalized thirty thousand people this summer alone in Basra; scarcely any part of Iraq has accessible or clean water. Many of the hospitals themselves lack decent water. Our project has placed 170 small treatment units, ultraviolet and reverse osmosis, in Iraqi institutions, primarily clinics and schools. Cooperating NGOs on the ground in Iraq, that is, Iraqis themselves provide the installation and maintenance for these units.  Yet the requests outnumber our abilities, oftentimes, to provide and install additional water purification units in schools and hospitals.  For this we come to you!

In the coming year IWP hopes to continue its work, with your help. Can you help us?  Much of our history and information is available on the website www.iraqwaterproject.org.   Please go to the link on the site for donating, or https://app.etapestry.com/onlineforms/VeteransforPeace/iwp.html Checks can be made out to VFP - Iraq Water Project and  mailed to Veterans for Peace, 1404 North Broadway, St Louis MO 63102. Please help and give a tax-deductible donation online!

Thanks for your attention, and---contribution---please keep the people of Iraq in your thoughts during this holiday season and beyond.                          

Leo Blanco would like to invite you all this Monday Dec 3rd 1pm to this new project I am working on: *THE SUGAR ROAD* A New Perspective to learn about Latin America’s Folk Music.

12/03 THE SUGAR ROAD

Charlie Welch<cwelch@tecschange.org>

11/28/2018 12:39 PM

Via  Act-MA <act-ma-bounces@act-ma.org>

To  act-ma@act-ma.org  

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Leo Blanco would like to invite you all this Monday Dec 3rd 1pm to this
new project I am working on: *THE SUGAR ROAD*
A New Perspective to learn about Latin America’s Folk Music.

*SUGAR* - Both a sweet and a sour experience. It can boost our energy up
and make us smile, but it can also be bad for our health and has left a
bitter stain on the history of humankind.
Join me, along with my colleagues, Fernando Brandao, Bethram Lehmann and
Ron Reid talking about: Brazil, Cuba & all British Caribbean Islands
respectively and a special guest Dominican Republic's folk percussionist
Valdez, who talk and perform son traditional rhythms from Dominican
Republic. An opportunity to learn how the music of Latin America was
shaped by the history of Sugar and its economy. This event will be part
of *THE SUGAR ROAD PROJECT*, and it is the second in a series of
presentations I am conducting as part of The Berklee College of Music
FLY Grant.

We will have an open discussion on how our thirst for sugar more than
400 years ago, was the engine for one of the worst atrocities in the
history of civilization: the transatlantic slave trade, and how,
consequently, it also shaped the music of the Americas.

Open to the public
A free event
Leo Blanco

Monday Dec 3rd 1-3pm.
At Berklee College of Music
The Loft (3rd floor, Room 221)
921 Boylston Street, Boston

Flyer at
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bnt65c8hw2ch0as/The%20Sugar%20Road%20Proyect.jpeg?dl=0

@leoblancomusic

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Rockin' Rollin' Rockabilly Mix! Part 2