The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is seeking comments about eight emerging technology areas: Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things in Manufacturing, Quantum Computing, Blockchain Technology, New and Advanced Materials, Unmanned Delivery Services, Internet of Things, and Three-dimensional Printing, to assist in the preparation of a report to Congress.
A Request for Information (RFI) was announced in the Federal Register under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, who is directed to coordinate with the Federal Trade Commission and other federal agencies to complete a study of the eight emerging technology areas.
The RFI seeks comments about public and private sector marketplace trends, supply chain risks, legislative, policy, and the future investment needs of the technology areas to help identify, understand, refine, and guide the development of the eight emerging technologies. Those eight areas are, more specifically:
Artificial Intelligence—on the state of the artificial intelligence industry and the impact of such industry on the United States economy,
Internet of Things in Manufacturing—on the use of internet-connected devices and internet-connected solutions in manufacturing in the United States,
Quantum Computing—on the state of the quantum computing industry and the impact of such industry on the United States economy,
Blockchain Technology—on the state of the blockchain technology industry and the impact of such industry on the United States economy,
New and Advanced Materials—on the state of the new and advanced materials industry, including synthetically derived materials or those with enhanced natural properties, and the impact of such industry on the United States economy,
Unmanned Delivery Services (air or ground)—on the impact of unmanned delivery services on businesses conducting interstate commerce and the impact of such industry on the United States economy, rules and regulations,
Internet of Things—on the state of the internet-connected devices industry and the impact of such industry on the United States economy, and
Three-dimensional Printing—on the state of the three-dimensional printing industry and the impact of such industry on the United States economy.
For each emerging technology area, NIST needs input useful to the fostering of economic growth and competitiveness across the United States for benefit all Americans.
As a result, the NIST is inviting stakeholders throughout the scientific research, standards, advocacy, industry, and non-scientific communities, as well as the general public, to provide comments. From the comments, a Congressional report will be developed “in a manner consistent with its mission to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness,” according to the RFI.
Comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on Jan. 31. To submit comments electronically, go to www.regulations.gov and enter NIST-2021-0007 in the search field. Click on the “Comment Now” icon and complete the required fields, and then enter or attach your comments.
The “Patient’s Right to Know Act,” HB2196, would require both health care facilities to disclose any religious denial of services, and then require insurance providers to relay that information to their enrollees. The first half of the bill described how health care providers must offer a list of those services, while the second half described how insurance providers must give enrollees those services denied by the list of facilities within their network.
State Representative Pamela Powers Hannley (D-Tucson) introduced the bill. Others that sponsored the bill included Representatives Richard Andrade (D-Glendale), Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren (D-Red Mesa), Kelli Butler (D-Phoenix), Andrés Cano (D-Tucson), Andrea Dalessandro (D-Sahuarita), Brian Fernandez (D-Yuma), Sarah Liguori (D-Phoenix), Christopher Mathis (D-Tucson), Marcelino Quiñonez (D-Phoenix), Judy Schwiebert (D-Phoenix), Christian Solorio (D-Phoenix), and State Senator Rosanna Gabaldon (D-Sahuarita).
The bill offered an expansive definition of religious beliefs to include philosophical beliefs or anything that deviates from the consensus within the health care community. The bill didn’t disclose how those “legal, peer-reviewed, or scientifically accepted standards” were determined.
“‘Religious beliefs’ means any set of philosophical or religious beliefs, guidelines, decrees or directives or other instructions determining patient care that are not based on legal, peer-reviewed or scientifically accepted standards of health care and that may be imposed on a health care entity through employment or clinical privileges,” read the bill.
If passed, the bill would give health care facilities one year to come up with a complete list of services they don’t provide due to their religious services. They would also have to inform state and federal agencies that license or enroll facilities in reimbursement programs.
Insurance providers, on the other hand, would have 18 months to comply. They would be helped along by another provision of the bill requiring health care facilities to give insurance providers a list of the denied services, and post that list online publicly.
This is the sixth year in a row that Powers Hannley has brought forth her “Patient’s Right to Know Act.” Powers Hannley sits on the Health and Human Services Committee. According to Powers Hannley, the intent of her bill is to eradicate all influence of religious beliefs in the health care sector for good.
In a blog post published a year before the infamous Capitol Hill riot and several months before the emergency state declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic — January 6, 2020 — Powers Hannley explained that she introduced the bill originally with abortion and birth control in mind. However, she began to envision other health care service denials, citing the denial of a hormone prescription to a transgender woman.
At the time, Powers Hannley characterized the increasing number of Catholic-owned hospitals as “very scary.”
Only two weeks are left to apply to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for grant funding under the American Rescue Plan Act for Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation.
The EDA aims to assist communities and regions in recovery from the coronavirus pandemic’s significant negative impact on the travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation sectors. The grant program is designed to provide a wide-range of financial assistance to communities and regions to rebuild and strengthen their travel, tourism, and outdoor recreation industry through various infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects.
EDA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, has already issued $510 million in tourism grants directly to states, including nearly $6 million to Arizona. Another $240 million is set aside for EDA Competitive Tourism Grants to at least 150 applicants.
According to EDA, eligible entities are a public or private non-profit organization or association acting in cooperation with a general purpose political subdivision of a State; an institution of higher education or a consortium of institutions of higher education; a State, county, city, or other political subdivision of a State, or a consortium of political subdivisions; an Indian Tribe or a consortium of Indian Tribes; or a District Organization of an EDA-designated Economic Development District.
Eligible applicants for EDA’s Competitive Tourism Grants are advised to apply no later than Jan. 31, so the agency can review and process the application in time to get a potential award in place prior to deadlines imposed by Congress. Any award is subject to the availability of funds.
Absent from the Arizona Department of Health (ADHS) report last week that unvaccinated individuals were 31.1 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than their vaccinated peers were any comorbidities. ADHS also claimed that the unvaccinated were nearly five times as likely to test positive for COVID-19. ADHS disclosed that they omitted length of time since vaccination and other demographics in addition to underlying conditions.
In similar sample studies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a study indicating that comorbidities exacerbated the effects of the virus — even for the vaccinated. In the study released last week, the CDC found that 78 percent of the 36 vaccinated individuals who died had four or more comorbidities. All of the nearly 200 people who experienced a severe outcome from COVID-19 had at least one comorbidity.
“Among 1,228,664 persons who completed primary vaccination during December 2020 [through] October 2021, a total of 2,246 (18.0 per 10,000 vaccinated persons) developed COVID-19 and 189 (1.5 per 10,000) had a severe outcome, including 36 who died (0.3 deaths per 10,000),” read the report.
CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky stirred controversy by remarking on the study to ABC on their show “Good Morning America.” Walensky cited the fact that the overwhelming majority of deaths from vaccinated individuals that contracted COVID-19 within the study had multiple comorbidities.
“The overwhelming number of deaths, over 75 percent, occurred in people who had at least four comorbidities, so really these are people who were unwell to begin with,” said Walensky.
In response to uproar over her comments, ABC updated their interview with Walensky to include an extended version in which she discussed the data within the context of the study.
One major comorbidity shared by nearly two-thirds of the nation is excess weight: approximately 42 percent of adults are obese, with another 30 percent overweight. The CDC warned that obesity increases the likelihood of serious illness from COVID-19.
The ADHS report preceded this week’s major developments on the pandemic that appeared to have turned the tide on the nation’s approach to perceiving and responding to COVID-19.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) struck down President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate requiring employers with 100 or more employees to mandate the vaccine or weekly testing.
Prior to that, major news outlets such as the Associated Press and The Atlanticupdated their internal guidance on COVID-19 coverage to eradicate mention of case numbers. The outlets asserted that the case counts weren’t high enough because they relied on reportable cases by health authorities, not at-home tests or those that don’t get tested because they’re asymptomatic.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) will pilot a social-emotional learning (SEL) supplemental curriculum at 19 schools this coming spring. TUSD will rely on Character Strong’s SEL supplemental curriculum.
The following make up the tentative list of schools incorporating the pilot supplemental curriculum, according to TUSD spokeswoman Leslie Lenhart.
Elementary: Wheeler, Dunham, Collier, Robison, Grijalva, Erickson, Hudlow, Mission View, Cavett, Van Buskirk, and Ochoa
K8: Roskruge, Borman, and Robins
Middle: Alice Vail, Valencia, and Utterback
High School: Cholla and Santa Rita
Five schools already implemented the supplemental curriculum: Peter Howell Elementary School, Miles Exploratory Learning Center (K-8), Lineweaver Elementary School, Borton Magnet School (elementary), and Sam Hughes Elementary School. According to Lenhart, these five schools will serve in an advisory capacity for the pilot program.
SEL incorporates a variety of controversial teaching approaches, such as Comprehensive Sex Education (CSE), Critical Race Theory (CRT), and Culturally Responsive Education (CRE).
In a slideshow presentation discussing adoption of SEL curriculum, TUSD claimed that SEL cultivated “mindsets, skills, attitudes, and feelings” that set up students for success. The board also described SEL as a necessary precondition for education.
“In essence, SEL focuses on students’ fundamental needs for motivation, social connectedness, and self-regulation as preconditions for learning,” read the agenda item.
SEL promotes five competency areas: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. The three functions of the TUSD SEL curriculum would focus on prevention and intervention using standards offered by Collaborative Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL): an organization that helped mainstream SEL, a budding theory at the time.
During the same meeting, the board approved spending $26,325 in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds on SEL professional development. The funds go toward training teachers, staff, and administration in trauma informed or culturally responsive care, de-escalation strategies, interventions, trauma, and resiliency.
TUSD has followed state precedent. In December, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) claimed that SEL was the key to solving the mental health decline in school-aged children. ADE based their claim on an advisory published by Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.
Governor Doug Ducey has acted in support of SEL adoption as well. Last August, AZ Free News reported that $1.6 out of $65 million in learning funds would go toward SEL programming. Then in September, AZ Free News discovered that Secretary of State Katie Hobbs nominated an elementary school teacher for her SEL implementation and activism.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Individuals may receive $100 grocery gift cards if they get vaccinated fully through the city of Phoenix’s mobile COVID-19 vans. Those interested must register with either Vincere Cancer Center or Premier Lab Solutions, the two health care companies operating the vans. Vaccination will be free, as will be testing.
The city didn’t disclose how many gift cards they would give out in their initial announcement, only saying that the number of gift cards given would continue while supplies lasted. AZ Free News asked the city how many gift cards they were distributing. They didn’t respond by press time.
Phoenix’s move appears to fall in line with the suggestion from President Joe Biden this summer to offer $100 to incentivize vaccinations.
$100 grocery gift cards for adults who get fully vaccinated using our #PHX mobile #COVID19 vans. We are still offering no out-of-pocket testing, too!
Phoenix will have one to two vaccination vans eligible for the $100 gift card offer at various locations around the Valley. A list of vaccination dates, times, and locations is available on the city’s website.
Like many other cities across the country, Phoenix has relied on monetary incentives or rewards for compliance with encouraged or mandated vaccination. Last December, the city council voted to give its employees bonuses of up to $2,000 for getting vaccinated, costing the city anywhere from $25 to $29 million in federal relief funds.
Other governmental authorities have opted to offer financial incentives for vaccination as well. In December, the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Governing Board voted to give employees $500 for being vaccinated fully, with $100 for each booster shot. The board reported that these vaccination payments would total approximately $3 to $5.8 million of their federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds.
According to one of the latest special reports from the Arizona Auditor General, school districts and charter schools spent less than 25 percent of their federal relief monies by the end of June. The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) spent far less: they had 95.5 percent of federal relief funds left to spend by the end of June.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
