Watch what you say

Your “um” and pauses could reveal early dementia risk

Baycrest Corporate Centre for Geriatric Care

The little pauses, “ums,” and moments when you struggle to find the right word may reveal far more about your brain than anyone realized. Researchers discovered that everyday speech patterns are closely tied to executive function — the mental system that powers memory, planning, focus, and flexible thinking. 

By using AI to analyze natural conversations, the team found they could predict cognitive performance with surprising accuracy, potentially opening the door to simple speech-based tools that could detect early signs of dementia long before traditional testing does.

The way people speak during ordinary conversations could offer valuable insight into brain health, according to new research from Baycrest, the University of Toronto, and York University. Scientists found that subtle speech characteristics, including pauses, filler words such as ('uh,' 'um'), and difficulty retrieving words, are closely connected to executive function, the group of mental abilities involved in memory, planning, attention, and flexible thinking.

The findings provide some of the strongest evidence so far linking natural speech patterns with key cognitive abilities. The work also expands on earlier research showing that older adults who speak more quickly tend to maintain stronger thinking skills over time (Wei et al., 2024).

Facial recognition data is a key to your identity – if stolen, you can’t just change the locks

Who benefits?

Jonathan S. Weissman, Rochester Institute of Technology

A woman strolls into a grocery store, thinking about grabbing some apples. Before she even reaches the produce aisle, a security camera has scanned her face. Whether the system is checking for shoplifters or simply logging her arrival, her face has joined a digital ledger, a trace she can’t easily erase. Retailers, banks, airports, stadiums and office buildings are doing the same.

But what if the woman’s facial information is stolen or misused? If a cybercriminal steals her password, she can change it. If they acquire her credit card number, she can cancel the card. But she can’t reset or revoke the appearance of her cheekbones.

Facial recognition systems don’t keep actual images. They convert a face into a mathematical template that maps the positions and proportions of the face’s features. When another camera scans a person later, the system checks their live face against these templates to confirm an identity.

In my work as a cybersecurity professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, I have found that even though templates are more secure than photos – which anyone online can capture and manipulate – templates, too, can be stolen. Once that happens, these digital keys create a lifelong vulnerability. If a facial recognition database is breached, the “locks” that a template opens – accessing a bank app, getting through security at an airport, entering an office building – can’t be reset. A person’s face is permanent, and so is the threat.

The threat isn’t theoretical. Biometric data has been stolen in data breaches. In 2024, biometric data from a facial recognition system used at bars and clubs in Australia was hacked. And in 2019, biometric data from a pilot facial recognition system set up by U.S. Customs and Border Protection was breached in an attack on a subcontractor’s network. It’s not clear whether anyone’s stolen biometric data has been exploited, however.

New hospital safety ratings show Westerly Hospital with an “A” and South County with a “C”

South County Hospital needs help

By Will Collette

The latest ratings on hospital safety just came out from the Leapfrog Group, the leading ranking service in the country. Under its rankings for Rhode Island, Miriam Hospital continues in the top spot as the safest in the state.

South County’s two non-profit hospitals have bracketed hospital ratings for safety and effectiveness over the past couple of decades, one usually ranked at or near the top, the other at or near the bottom.

When Cathy and I returned to Rhode Island in 2001, it was South County Hospital with the great scores and Westerly Hospital with the poor ones. That changed about ten years ago.

In 2012, Westerly Hospital was on the brink of shutting down, having run out of money with a management that had run out of ideas. They were saved, barely, when they were purchased by Lawrence & Memorial Hospital of New London. L&M management brutally cut staff and services at Westerly, while also engaged in a bitter strike with their own employees in New London.

However, in 2016, the dynamic changed when both Lawrence & Memorial and Westerly Hospitals were bought out by Yale-New Haven as Yale brought higher standards to both hospitals.

By contrast, South County Hospital remained Rhode Island’s only independent hospital, for better or worse, and also recently went through its own corporate turmoil that broke into the open in summer 2024.

My own personal connection to South County Hospital goes back more than 50 years. As a young strategic researcher, I worked on a statewide campaign led by former RI AFL-CIO President George Nee to get every hospital in Rhode Island to help uninsured and unemployed workers by treating them regardless of ability to pay and to write off a substantial amount of medical debt. Each hospital in turn was targeted until they agreed to these terms.

Donald Ford

Except South County. Under longtime CEO Donald Ford, South County already had these policies in place and advertised this policy on the radio. I called Ford to find out why South County alone had such a positive approach. He laughed, said he expected I’d get around to calling, and invited me down.

I went and discovered a new friend, if not a kindred spirit. As we walked through the whole hospital, especially the inner sections rarely seen by visitors, Donald greeted workers and often patients by name. He ran the hospital that way for almost 30 years. I mourned his passing in 2010.

Fast forward to the present and we have a new South County CEO, Aaron Robinson who took over as boss in 2018. His policies and management style provoked a staff revolt, mass resignations, a sharp decline in South County’s ratings and community protests demanding his resignation.

Robinson responded by adopting a siege mentality and, in a move I’ve never seen, filed a punitive SLAPP suit against the community opposition group “Save South County Hospital.” SLAPP suits are illegal under Rhode Island law.

Whether it was the SLAPP suit or some genuine compromise, South County management and its angry constituents came to some kind of undisclosed compromise, but not in time to prevent South County Hospital’s safety score from dropping another letter grade.

One of the few details of the settlement acknowledged by both sides was that South County would seek and secure some sort of "partnership" deal with an undisclosed third party that would boost quality through more investment yet also preserve SCH's independence.

I asked several SCH staff at various levels about this secret deal, and they said they were waiting to see what Robinson had in mind.

Meanwhile, under Yale-Haven, Westerly Hospital continues to show marked improvement as their scores over the past several years shows.

 

Contrast this with South County Hospital's poor showing.

If you open up the FULL REPORT, you can see where South County has fallen short. I was especially concerned about the two tables above. My interpretation of this data is that safety standards certainly appear to have slipped, but it doesn't seem to be the staff's fault. 

Non-profit hospitals should be a public trust. That's what Donald Ford told me almost 50 years ago. Today, they are more like businesses, and their leaders resemble Wall Street CEOs rather than Main Street civic leaders. While I harbor no false hopes about any return to the good old days, there must be a way rekindle the bond between the public and these once revered institutions.

Very good, Donald

Join the Hope Valley Memorial Day Parade

RI Senate passes Victoria Gu bill to require home insurers to give proper notice before cancellation

Climate change risk pushes insurers to cancel coastal home insurance 

The Senate approved legislation sponsored by Sen. Victoria Gu to require insurers to provide customers with advance notice of nonrenewal for homeowners and residential fire insurance policies.

“Insurance companies are being a lot more selective about the location and the condition of the houses they insure, declining to cover homes in coastal areas or with older roofs or water heaters,” said Senator Gu (D-Dist. 38, Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown). 

“The 60 days’ advance notice will help homeowners find alternative insurance coverage and find tradespeople if they need to fix something at their house in order to continue insurance coverage.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: Cathy and I went through this last year TWICE, each time finding insurance companies were changing the rules about covering properties near the coast. Once you find coverage, or maybe I should say IF you find coverage, prices are way up.  - Will Collette

Newest poll shows Helena Foulkes kicking Dan McKee's butt by 20%

59% Say Rhode Island Is Headed in the Wrong Direction

A new Emerson College Polling/WPRI-TV 12 News survey of Rhode Island finds incumbent Governor Dan McKee trailing businesswoman Helena Foulkes in the Democratic primary by 20 points, 20% to 40%. Thirty-seven percent are undecided ahead of the September primary. 

“Registered Democrats support Foulkes over Governor McKee by a 12-point margin, 37% to 25%, while independent voters break more significantly for Foulkes by 32 points, 45% to 13%,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said. 

McKee is viewed unfavorably by 60% of Rhode Island voters, while 21% have a favorable view of him. Among Democratic Primary voters, 29% have a favorable view of McKee and 50% an unfavorable view. Foulkes’ favorability is split: 27% have a favorable view of her and 29% have an unfavorable view of her. Among Democratic Primary voters, 35% have a favorable view of Foulkes and 23% an unfavorable view. 

Trump fights fraud by withholding funds from blue states while pardoning the fraudsters

It's odd that fraud only seems to happen in blue states

Julia Conley for Common Dreams

“Political retribution, plain and simple,” was how US Sen. Alex Padilla described an announcement by Vice President JD Vance late Wednesday regarding the White House’s decision to withhold $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursement payments to California.

Vance and Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, claimed the state’s Medicaid records have generated “red flags” and demanded officials clarify $630 million in billing, $500 million that’s been spent on home health services, and $200 million in what Oz called “questionable expenditures,” which he claimed had been used to provide coverage for undocumented immigrants, who are not eligible for Medicaid.

The announcement came a month after Vance’s federal anti-fraud task force suspended the licenses of nearly 450 hospice care facilities and 23 home health agencies in the Los Angeles area, accusing them of fraud.

Vance also warned that all 50 states could soon see federal funding for their Medicaid Fraud Control Units frozen if they fail to “aggressively prosecute Medicaid fraud.”

“We can turn off other resources within their state Medicaid programs as well,” said the vice president.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has frequently sparred with the Trump administration, said Vance and Oz were “attacking programs that keep seniors and people with disabilities OUT of nursing homes,” which are far more expensive to run than home healthcare agencies.

Newsom said the growth of the state’s In-Home Supportive Services program has saved taxpayers “$107,000 per person” by reducing reliance on nursing homes.

“MAGA hates in-home support programs—which help people stay out of costly institutional settings like nursing homes and get the care they deserve, typically from loved ones,” said Newsom.

Newsom also said the Trump administration had informed state officials that the deadline to review California’s Medicaid records “before deciding whether to defer funding” would be later in the month.

Will the rich run away if Rhode Island tries to tax them?

Weayonnoh Nelson Davies & Patrick Crowley call out vague claims and weak evidence in RIPEC's anti-millionaires' tax report

SteveAhlquist.news

"With the report’s vagueness about the possibility of economic consequences and failure to quantify risk, RIPEC’s warnings ought not to persuade policymakers or anyone considering the evidence." 

The Economic Progress Institute (EPI) and Rhode Island AFL-CIO find that the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council (RIPEC)’s recent report, Rhode Island’s Millionaires’ Tax Proposal: The Economic Risks of Becoming Less Competitive and Losing Taxpayers, falls woefully short on data or evidence to justify its claims and opposition to raising taxes modestly on the state’s highest-income filers.

Here are the Top 5 reasons why the report is unreliable and misleading – plus a critique of the report’s main data point and statistical claim:

Targeting the worst of the worse

Accidentally true (continued)

 

McKee unveils 6 picks for revamped CRMC.

Critics are underwhelmed.

By Nancy Lavin, Rhode Island Current

Three lawyers, two former state lawmakers and an entrepreneur whose business ventures include a word game app and organic salad dressings are Gov. Dan McKee’s picks for the reshaped Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council.

The six nominees, all men, are slated for initial confirmation hearings before the Senate Committee on Environment and Agriculture Wednesday — nearly three months after the March 1 deadline for new appointees to join the volunteer council. 

McKee’s office did not respond to requests for comment Monday on the delay or on his choices of candidates. Copies of their resumes or applications were also not immediately available, nor was the total number of applications received.

McKee’s recommendation letters, submitted to the Rhode Island Senate on May 14, do not offer any details about the candidates besides their names, and, when applicable, their professional qualifications.

Requiring the volunteer panel members to have relevant work experience was a central part of the reform effort approved by state lawmakers on the final day of the 2025 legislative session. The law reduced the size of the council from 10 to seven people to fix the problem of recurring vacancies that force meetings to be canceled due to lack of quorum. 

Foulkes rolls out first part of her economic plan with a $100 Million "Classroom-to-Career" proposal

Practical approach for jobs and the economy

Steve Ahlquist

Gubernatorial candidate Helena Buonanno Foulkes (Democrat) announced the first component of “Believe in Rhode Island,” her comprehensive economic plan to give “every Rhode Islander a real shot at a good-paying job, a career, and a better future.”

“Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be rolling out parts of Believe in Rhode Island, my comprehensive economic plan that I will implement as governor,” said Foulkes. 

“My plan is grounded in the belief in our people, our talent, and the incredible assets that Rhode Island has to offer. For too long, our elected leaders have been trying to tax incentive or special deal their way into economic success. Instead, we should invest in Rhode Islanders and lean into what our incredible state has to offer. I’m proud... to announce my Classroom-to-Career Initiative, the largest investment in career and technical education in the history of Rhode Island.

“Every parent I meet wants the same thing for their kid: a good, stable job and a future where they don’t have to leave Rhode Island to find a job. For too long, we’ve told young people that the only path to a successful career runs through a four-year college, but talking to the men and women in our trades, the operating engineers, the electricians, the plumbers, the iron workers, and the carpenters, they’ll tell you they have stable careers, good pay, and pride in the work they do. 

"It’s the same for our healthcare workers, our advanced manufacturers, and our marine technicians. All Rhode Island needs is more people in all of these careers, and that’s why, as governor, I’ll propose a $100 million bond to fund capital construction for career and technical education facilities at or near high schools throughout the state, so our young people can learn career track skills and start careers with Rhode Island companies straight after graduation.”

“My classroom to career plan has four key points,” said Foulkes.

BAD air today! Exercise caution and common sense outdoors

Pollen count is also high

Air Quality Forecast | Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management

Earth-Destroying Trump and the Threat of World War III

The nightmare that is Donald Trump

Tom Engelhardt in the TomDispatch

Unlike every other column of mine, this one won’t be broken up with section titles for a simple reason. It’s all about Donald J. Trump and when it comes to him, in this strange world of ours, no one ever really gets a break.

In that context, here’s my advice to you: Don’t get old. For years, I managed not to do so, but unfortunately that’s all over now and I’m increasingly an old man. In fact, I’m not quite two years older than Donald J. Trump. 

I was born on July 20, 1944, while World War II was still ongoing, and he was born on June 14, 1946, in the peacetime that followed but would all too soon become the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

And let me tell you something else: these days it’s hard enough to keep the website I still run, TomDispatch, in some kind of reasonable shape, while also keeping track of our ever-stranger, more confusing, all-too-Trumpian world. 

But keeping track of things nationally and globally as an 80-year-old president of the United States (with another two-and-a-half years to go) in a world that seems to be coming apart at the — whoops, sorry, I can’t help it! — seams? I simply can’t imagine that. Of course, I couldn’t imagine it for Joe Biden either, and yet he left the presidency when he was a staggering 82 years and 61 days old and will still have been younger than Trump if he truly makes it to January 20, 2029. (And both of them will have beaten the oldest Roman Emperor, Gordian I, who at 81 only lasted a few weeks in power.)

It’s hardly news that Donald Trump is now the oldest president ever to take the oath of office (twice!) and, in that sense, he’s been both record-setting and, in his own strange way, remarkable. 

But in case you hadn’t noticed, while he’s always had his odd moments, they are indeed getting ever odder and more frequent. After all, how many times has this country had a president who mistook himself for (or do I mean confused himself with) Jesus Christ? Oh, wait, how could I be so confused? That image wasn’t of Jesus but (as “our” president insisted) of a lookalike medical doctor. (“I thought it was me as a doctor,” Trump said. “Only the fake news could come up with that.”)

And meanwhile, of course, in his own ever stranger fashion, “our” president took out after Leo, the American pope, himself a veritable youth at 70 years old, calling him of all things, “WEAK on crime” and, of course, “catering to the Radical Left.” Oh, and while he was at it, Trump also posted an image of himself being hugged by (yes, of course!) Jesus. And Leo responded to the president’s abuse by all too accurately deploring a world being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” (including, of course, You Know Exactly Whom).

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, as an imperial power (even, historically speaking, the imperial power, the only one at its height to control quite so much of the planet in one fashion or another), this country, too, is growing ever older and (again) in its own strange fashion going down (as, of course, all great imperial powers do sooner or later). Phew! That was a long sentence for this old guy, but you can’t get too long and complicated (or do I mean confused?) when it comes to the world of Donald J. Trump. In electing him a second time in 2024, 49.8% of American voters clearly opted to go down in style by giving imperial oldness a startling new meaning.