Senate confirms Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as Labor secretary


Boston Mayor Marty Walsh testifies on his nomination as Labor secretary before the Senate labor committee on February 4. File photo by Graeme Jennings/UPI/Pool | License Photo

March 22 (UPI) -- The Senate on Monday confirmed Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as Secretary of Labor, completing the list of President Joe Biden's Cabinet nominees to be approved.

With its 68-29 vote, the Senate made Walsh the first former union leader to run the Labor Department in more than 40 years, putting him in charge of the agency amid historic levels of unemployment and an uneven recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Walsh was the final Cabinet-level Biden Administration official to be confirmed by the Senate following last week's approvals of Xavier Becerra as Health and Human Services secretary, Katherine Tai as U.S. Trade Representative, Isabel Guzman as the leader of the Small Business Administration and Deb Haaland as interior secretary.

In a farewell address to city employees at Boston's Faneuil Hall Monday, the two-term mayor expressed his gratitude to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and vowed to help them build an economy "that works for every single American."

"I spent my entire career fighting for working people and I'm eager to continue that fight in Washington," he said.

"His story reminds me of my own family," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a tweet. "His parents from Ireland, my grandfather from Eastern Europe, we both have family backgrounds of immigrants who joined the labor movement in the U.S, to help their families."

Unlike some of Biden's other picks, Walsh's nomination gained broad bipartisan support

"Mayor Walsh has the background, the skills and the awareness for the need of balance in conversations between labor and management," Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said on the Senate floor Monday.

Burr is the ranking GOP member on the Senate labor committee.

EVANSTON, ILLINOIS

Chicago suburb approves housing reparations for Black residents

March 23 (UPI) -- A Chicago suburb's city council became what is believed to be the first U.S. government to approve reparations, making available hundreds of thousands of dollars to right decades of wrongs committed by the city's discriminatory housing practices against its Black residents.

The Evanston, Ill., City Council voted Monday night 8-1 to approve the first phase of reparations that allots a $400,000 budget to the Local Reparations Restorative Housing Program that gives eligible individuals up to $25,000 in home ownership, home improvement and mortgage assistance funds.

"The Restorative Housing Program acknowledges the historical harm caused to Black/African-American Evanston residents due to discriminatory housing policies and practices and inaction by the city," according to city council documents.

Those who are eligible for the grants must be able to prove their Black and African American ancestors were residents of the city between 1919 and 1969 when it employed discriminatory zoning ordinances.

"Tonight's vote is just one step, but it is one step in the right direction," said Alderwoman Eleanor Revelle during the meeting. "And one thing that hasn't been emphasized enough is that the restorative housing program directly addresses the harm that was caused by decades of discriminatory practices here in Evanston ... to limit the housing choices and the opportunities of our Black residents."

The city said the first reparations program focused on housing as reparations must be tied to harm it caused and that there is "sufficient evidence" to show that the city's early zoning ordinances were discriminatory.

Revelle added Monday's vote will not be the end of actions to undo the city's injustices as they will continue to seek input for the next investment of reparations funds.

The move follows the creation of the Reparations Subcommittee of the City Council in August 2019 to determine how $10 million from the city's cannabis retailer's tax should be allocated. The Restorative Housing Program, the city said, was developed to focus on preserving, stabilizing and increasing homeownership with the intention of growing the wealth among Black Americans.

To date, the Reparations Fund has received more than $21 million in private donations on top of the 3% cannabis tax, it said.

"It is a first step," Alderwoman Robin Rue Simmons, who proposed the reparations plan, said during the meeting. "It is a first tangible step. It is, alone, not enough, it's not full repair alone in this one initiative. But we all know the road to repair and justice in the Black community will be a generation of work. It is going to be many programs and initiatives and more funding."

Daniel Biss, the in-coming mayor, issued a statement in support of the motion a day head of the vote, stating whether or not it passes "you can count on me to be a strong and vocal supporter" of the city's commitment to reparations.

"Reparations is a huge, difficult and complex project that seeks to address the damage done by White supremacy, one of the great prolonged evils in human history," he said. "It will not be 'solved' on the first try. On the contrary, we will have to try many different approaches, listen with an open mind to learn from what works and what needs to be changed and adjust our strategy on an ongoing basis."

VIDEO https://abc7chicago.com/video/embed/?pid=10441815


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REPORTERS WITHOLUT BORDERS

Advocacy group sues Facebook for failing to provide safe online environment


Because Facebook's terms of service are the same worldwide, RSF said it's considering filing similar complaints in other countries. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo


March 23 (UPI) -- Advocacy group Reporters Without Borders has filed a lawsuit in France against Facebook, accusing the social network of contradicting its promise to provide a safe and "error-free" environment online.

The group, known by the initials RSF, said it filed the suit Monday in Paris. It accuses Facebook of "deceptive commercial practices" and says promises of a "safe, secure and error-free environment" in its terms of service are overrun by hate speech and false information.

RSF said the failures foster "hatred in general and hatred against journalists."

The suit says Facebook's terms of service say the platform can't be used to share unlawful, misleading, discriminatory or fraudulent information.

It also says Facebook fails its obligation under its Community Standards to "significantly reduce" disinformation, and a claim in a French advertisement to offer precise information to fight COVID-19.

RSF cites a November report from nonprofit First Draft that identified Facebook as a "hub of vaccine conspiracy theories" and a UNESCO report that called Facebook's the least safe platform.

In France, Facebook has 38 million users, 24 million of whom are daily users.

Under French law, a practice is considered deceptive if it's "based on false claims, statements or representations or is likely to mislead." The fine for the offense is up to 10% of annual sales.

Because Facebook's terms of service are the same worldwide, RSF said it's considering filing similar complaints in other countries.

Facebook has attempted to address misinformation by adding labels and links to questionable posts.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to appear before the U.S. Congress on Thursday to answer questions about the role of social media disinformation in the January 6 Capitol attack.


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Pentagon extends contract options for nuclear microreactor prototype

THE INCREDIBLY SHRINKING NUCLEAR POWER

This 2019 photo shows the former SM-1 nuclear power plant at Fort Belvoir from outside the security gate. Photo by Rebecca Nappi/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers


March 23 (UPI) -- The Department of Defense awarded contract options this week to two companies to create a final prototype for a transportable advanced nuclear microreactor.

BWXT Advanced Technologies and X-energy, both of which won contracts last year to develop portable nuclear reactors, will continue that work under the new options, according to a Pentagon press release

The teams are working under a Strategic Capabilities Office initiative called Project Pele.

PELE IS THE HAWAIIAN VOLCANO GODDESS

One of the two companies may be selected by the Pentagon to build and demonstrate a prototype once design review and environmental analysis are finished early next year, according to the Pentagon.

"We are thrilled with the progress our industrial partners have made on their designs," Dr. Jeff Waksman, Project Pele program manager, said in the release.

"We are confident that by early 2022 we will have two engineering designs matured to a sufficient state that we will be able to determine suitability for possible construction and testing."

Project Pele is intended to help address DoD power uses -- about 30 Terawatt-hours of electricity per year and more than 10 million gallons of fuel per day -- which are expected to increase due to more energy-intensive capabilities maturing and the electrification the vehicle fleet.

The Pentagon is looking to meet this demand with a small, transportable energy source that won't add fuel needs and be usable in remote environments.

The prototype should be capable of running within three days of delivery and be safely removed in seven days, and be able to deliver one to five Megawatts of electrical power for at least three years.

In addition to filling power needs in remote environments, the system could lead to similar commercial technologies, which would reduce carbon emissions and provide new tools for disaster relief, the DoD said.

RELATED Combination of climate change, development to fuel urban flooding

It's not clear how much the new contract options are worth. In 2020 BWXT, based in Virginia, received $13.5 million and Maryland's X-energy received $14.3 million for the first development.

Westinghouse Government Services was also awarded an $11.9 million contract for the initial phase of development last year but was not mentioned in this week's press release announcing options.

"Production of a full-scale Fourth Generation nuclear reactor will have significant geopolitical implications for the United States," said Jay Dryer, SCO director.

"The DOD has led American innovation many times in the past, and with Project Pele, has the opportunity to help us advance on both energy resiliency and carbon emission reductions," Dryer said.


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Academics in Japan say 'apology' was included in 2015 comfort women deal

Former South Korean "comfort women" have called for an official Japanese government apology. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

March 24 (UPI) -- Japanese scholars say Tokyo has not fulfilled its obligations under the 2015 Japan-South Korea "comfort women" agreement, which included a compensation scheme under a foundation that was dissolved in 2019.

Wada Haruki, an emeritus professor of the Institute of Social Science at University of Tokyo, jointly issued a statement with other Japanese academics on Wednesday urging Seoul and Tokyo to implement the agreement, South Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo reported Wednesday.

According to the joint statement, the Japanese government agreed that it takes full responsibility for the plight of former victims of Japanese wartime brothels. Victims have said they were raped and beaten by soldiers.

Japan also agreed then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would extend an official apology to all victims, Wada and the others said.

Japan and South Korea are locked in a dispute over compensation for former comfort women. In January, a South Korean court ordered Japan to pay compensation directly to the women, a move that has contributed to deteriorating ties.

Under the 2015 agreement, some victims accepted payments funded through private Japanese donations. Other women rejected the private funds and called for an official Japanese government apology.

On Wednesday, Wada said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga are to sign a statement that endorses an official apology. Suga should adhere to the Kono Statement, released by former Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono in 1993, affirming direct Japanese military involvement in the recruitment of comfort women.

Some Japanese politicians have alleged the women were voluntary sex workers.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has proposed improving relations with Japan. After his administration's decision to dissolve the comfort women foundation, this year Moon confirmed the 2015 deal was an "official one between the governments," in a statement that appeared to take a step toward reconciliation.

Seoul has requested dialogue, but Tokyo has shown few signs of interest.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has yet to meet with South Korean Ambassador to Japan Kang Chang-il, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Kang assumed his post in January.

SHOE ON OTHER FOOT

South Korea expresses concern over hate crimes after Atlanta mass shooting


South Korea’s top diplomat said he will work with U.S. agencies to safeguard the 

safety of Koreans abroad after a gunman killed eight people in the Atlanta area last week. 

File Photo by Tami Chappell/UPI | License Photo

March 24 (UPI) -- South Korea is raising concerns about the rise of hate crimes in the United States a week after eight people, including six Asian Americans, were killed during a mass shooting at Atlanta-area spas.

South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong said Wednesday he harbors "deep concerns" about "racist hate crimes" in the United States, Newsis reported.

"The increase in hate crimes against Asian communities is a matter of safety for [Koreans] in the United States," Chung said. "The government will be devoting great attention to the issue and will cooperate closely with related U.S. government agencies to prevent incidents and keep safe" Korean citizens abroad.

South Korea will "actively support the efforts of the U.S. government to firmly stand against hate and violence, without being silent," Chung said.

RELATED Ken Jeong on rise of hate crimes against Asian-Americans: 'Enough is enough'

U.S. officials in Georgia last week identified four out of the eight victims as Koreans or Korean Americans. One person in the group of four had South Korean citizenship, while the rest were naturalized U.S. citizens, according to the JoongAng Ilbo.

Reports of racist incidents that have targeted Korean Americans have riled the South Korean public in the aftermath of the Atlanta spa shootings.

Various news stories, including a report of a handwritten threat to a Korean American widow in Southern California has gone viral on the Korean Internet.

RELATED Overhearing negative remarks about social groups can inspire bias in children

On Tuesday, the Orange County Register reported the note sent to Yong Choi, a resident of a senior community, stated the death of her husband Byong was "one less Asian to put up with."

"Watch out! Pack your bags and go back to your country where you belong," the note read, according to the report.

Yong Choi's daughter, Claudia, said that her father, who came to the United States in the late '60s, was "very civic minded."

"He voted in every election and would help in every election as a volunteer," Choi said.

National organization Stop AAPI Hate has reported nearly 3,800 racist incidents over the past year.

Primary doctor shortage in U.S. costing lives, study says

By Amy Norton, HealthDay News

The United States could save thousands of lives each year by addressing its lack of enough primary care doctors, a new study projects.

There has been a shortfall of U.S. primary care doctors for a long time, with much of the problem concentrated in rural areas and poverty-stricken urban center

And the future looks bleak: A report last year from the Association of American Medical Colleges projected a shortage of up to 139,000 physicians -- many in primary care -- by 2033.

It cited the aging American population, and the large number of doctors reaching retirement age, as two major factors.

RELATED Doctor shortage predicted for U.S. in next decade, threatens aging population

The new study attempted a different kind of projection: What if primary care shortages in underserved U.S. counties were alleviated?

The answer: More than 7,000 lives could be saved each year, and Americans would see two months tacked onto their life expectancy.

That's in large part because many of the things that improve life expectancy are "relatively simple," said Dr. Sanjay Basu, lead researcher on the study.

RELATED Pandemic has driven some doctors to switch jobs, retire early

Basic medical care, he said, can catch health problems earlier or help prevent them.

Detecting and treating high blood pressure or cholesterol, for instance, cuts the risk of heart attack and stroke. Routine cancer screenings can pick up tumors at an earlier stage, when they are more treatable.

Yet the United States underfunds the basics, said Basu, director of research at Harvard Medical School's Center for Primary Care in Boston.

RELATED 11 states may face ICU doctor shortages as COVID-19 cases climb

A root issue, he explained, is the way health care is typically reimbursed: Doctors are rewarded for doing medical procedures, but not for talking to patients about diet and exercise.

So there are financial incentives, Basu said, for doctors to go into procedure-heavy specialities -- such as urology, dermatology and ophthalmology -- but comparatively few to go into primary care.

The incentives are fewer still to practice primary care in remote rural areas or marginalized urban neighborhoods.

Over the years, efforts have been made to address the supply problem, Basu said. They include programs that repay doctors' medical school loans if they commit to practicing in an underserved area for a set amount of time.

But while those measures help, Basu said, they are not enough on their own.

Melinda Abrams is executive vice president for programs at the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit focused on health care issues.

"Primary care is the backbone of any well-functioning health care system," said Abrams, who was not involved in the study.

Past research, she noted, has shown that death rates are typically lower in U.S. communities with a greater density of primary care providers.

Like Basu, Abrams said the supply problem can be traced to the way the United States pays for medical care. "We put a premium on care that happens after a person gets sick," she said.

Abrams also agreed that measures such as loan-forgiveness programs help, but are insufficient: More needs to be done to not only attract, but also retain, providers in underserved areas, she said.

Those providers, Abrams noted, go beyond doctors and include nurse practitioners, physician assistants, social workers and midwives. She said it's important for underserved areas to attract and retain those health professionals, too.

"We really need a paradigm shift in how we pay, and how we train," Abrams said.

The study -- published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine -- is based on data from 3,100 U.S. counties. Just over 1,200 had a shortage of primary care doctors as of 2017.

Basu said the official definition of "shortage" comes from the federal government and includes counties with fewer than one primary care doctor for every 3,500 people.

The researchers found that in line with past studies, shortage counties had higher death rates and shorter average life expectancy than counties with more doctors.

The same was true even in counties with less-acute shortages -- fewer than one doctor per 1,500 residents.

Basu's team estimates that if the provider supply for those counties were increased to one for every 1,500 residents, that would save over 7,000 lives annually. Average life expectancy, meanwhile, would increase by about 56 days.

The study focused on doctors, Basu said, because there is good data on the physician supply. But he agreed that primary care should involve a "team" of providers who communicate with one another.

That could make a difference not only in deaths, but in people's satisfaction with their care, according to Abrams.

"People want good communication, and to be treated as a whole person," she said.More information

The Commonwealth Fund has more on improving U.S. health care quality.

Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

 Firth, R. and Robinson, A. (2020) "Robotopias: mapping utopian perspectives on new industrial technology," International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, DOI 10.1108/IJSSP-01-2020-0004

Rhiannon Firth

221 Views17 Pages

1 File ▾

Posthumanism,

Cybernetics,

Utopian Studies,

Anarchism,

Critical Posthumanism

 

 

 

Purpose-This paper maps utopian theories of technological change. The focus is on debates surrounding emerging industrial technologies which contribute to making the relationship between humans and machines more symbiotic and entangled, such as robotics, automation and artificial intelligence. The aim is to provide a map to navigate complex debates on the potential for technology to be used for emancipatory purposes and to plot the grounds for tactical engagements. Design/methodology/approach-The paper proposes a two-way axis to map theories into to a six-category typology. Axis one contains the parameters humanist-assemblage. Humanists draw on the idea of a human essence of creative labour-power, and treat machines as alienated and exploitative form of this essence. Assemblage theorists draw on posthumanism and poststructuralism, maintaining that humans always exist within assemblages which also contain non-human forces. Axis two contains the parameters utopian/optimist; tactical/processual; and dystopian/pessimist, depending on the construed potential for using new technologies for empowering ends. Findings-The growing social role of robots portends unknown, and maybe radical, changes, but there is no single human perspective from which this shift is conceived. Approaches cluster in six distinct sets, each with different paradigmatic assumptions. Practical implications-Mapping the categories is useful pedagogically, and makes other political interventions possible, for example interventions between groups and social movements whose practice-based ontologies differ vastly. Originality/value-Bringing different approaches into contact and mapping differences in ways which make them more comparable, can help to identify the points of disagreement and the empirical or axiomatic grounds for these. It might facilitate the future identification of criteria to choose among the approaches.

Firth_R_and_Robinson_A_2020_Robotopias_mapping_utopian_perspectives_on_new_industrial_technology_International_Journal_of_Sociology_and_Social_Policy_DOI_10_1108_IJSSP_01_2020_0004

A study of schools in Missouri adds to research suggesting that COVID-19 has limited spread in schools that observe mask rules and social distancing, according to researchers. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo


COVID-19 transmission is rare in schools that follow precautions such as mandatory masks, social distancing and frequent hand-washing, a new study finds.

And that's true even among close school contacts of people who test positive for the new coronavirus, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

"Schools can operate safely during a pandemic when prevention strategies are followed," said study co-leader Dr. Jason Newland, a professor of pediatrics.

His team conducted a pilot study that included 57 schools in St. Louis and Greene counties in southwest Missouri, as well as two private schools in St. Louis County. All required students, teachers, staff and visitors to wear masks while on campus or buses.

Other safety measures included hand hygiene, deep cleaning of facilities, physical distancing in classrooms, daily COVID-19 symptom screenings, physical barriers between teachers and students, increased ventilation and offering online learning options.

For two weeks in December, researchers were notified about students, teachers and staff who were either infected with COVID-19 or quarantined because they were in close contact with someone who had tested positive.

In all, the investigators were notified about 193 people at 22 schools -- 37 who tested positive for COVID-19 and 156 close contacts. A close contact is someone who has been within 6-feet of an infected person for more than 15 minutes in a 24-hour period.

Among study participants who were COVID-19-positive, 24, or 65%, were students, and 13, or 35%, were teachers or staffers. Of the close contacts, 137, or 88%, were students, and 19, or 12%, were teachers or staffers.

Of the 102 close contacts who agreed to saliva tests for COVID-19, only two had positive results, suggesting they were infected at school.

Despite high rates of community spread in December, there were no COVID-19 outbreaks in participating schools, according to the report published online this week in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The findings add to those from schools in other states showing that prevention efforts are highly effective at curbing the spread of COVID-19 among students, teachers and staff.

"The pilot study demonstrates low transmission in schools and no student-to-teacher transmission -- and this was during the height of the pandemic in December, with high rates of community spread," Newland noted in a university news release.

Senior study author Johanna Salzer is a veterinary medical officer at the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.

She said, "This work is imperative because keeping kids in school provides not only educational enrichment but also social, psychological and emotional health benefits, particularly for students who rely on school-based services for nutritional, physical and mental health support."More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19 and schools/child care.

Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Senate bill would reform VA approach to toxic substance exposure treatment

On Tuesday a bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate for additional care for veterans exposed to toxic substances. Photo courtesy of U.S. Army

March 24 (UPI) -- A bill to improve healthcare and benefits of military personnel exposed to toxic substances was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate this week.

The Toxic Exposure in the American Military, or TEAM, Act would create sweeping mandates for the Department of Veterans Affairs to track and care for eligible veterans, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., announced on Tuesday.

Co-sponsored by Tillis and Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., the bill was passed in the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in 2020 but did not receive a Senate floor voter.

"Our brave veterans risked their lives to protect our country and it's our job to make sure they are supported back home, even years after they served," Tillis said in a press release.

RELATED Experts: Prioritize COVID-19 vaccine for those with high exposure to PFAS chemicals

"The TEAM Act ensures that all veterans are given a fair and uniform process to receive the health care and benefits to which they are entitled following exposures to toxicants during their service," Tillis said.

The proposed bill expands health care for veterans exposed to toxic substances, and requires the VA to respond to new scientific evidence regarding diseases associated with toxic exposure.

The bill would also ensures that VA review scientific studies regarding toxic substances encountered during military service, establishes an independent scientific commission to assist the VA in determining the health effects of toxic exposure and expands training of VA health care personnel.

RELATED Investigation of water-borne contaminants starts at former Reese AFB, Texas

The issue has gained attention as personnel serving in Afghanistan and Iraq returned home with cancers and respiratory and fertility issues.

The issue has also been noted because of lagging Pentagon action to remediate contamination by PFAS -- per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances -- at hundreds of military bases and other defense operations in the United States.

PFAS are regarded as "forever chemicals" because they do not break down in the environment.

RELATED Health-damaging PFAS 'forever chemicals' likely released at 2,500 sites



Hassan's state, New Hampshire, is the site of the former Pease Air Force Base.

The base, which was closed in 1991, has since 1983 has been investigated and partially remediated after troops and their families were exposed to high levels of chemicals, including PFAS.

"We have an obligation to ensure that veterans who return home from war receive the care that they need and have earned," Hassan said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Our bipartisan bill would take long overdue steps to ensure that veterans can receive health care for diseases that they develop as a result of toxic substance exposure during their service," Hassan said.

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