Big Brother News Watch
You Should Be Worried About How Much Info WhatsApp Shares With Facebook + More
You Should Be Worried About How Much Info WhatsApp Shares With Facebook
It’s the messaging app that connects a quarter of the world’s population, but many Americans still haven’t heard of WhatsApp. That’s because most phone plans in the United States provide a standard flat rate for texting that allows people to communicate freely within the country. But throughout much of the world, including many of the world’s poorest countries, people are charged for every single message they send and receive.
That is why, since its launch in 2009, WhatsApp has become a vital resource for billions of people – and they are prepared to defend it. When the Lebanese government tried to bring in a “WhatsApp tax”, charging $0.20 daily for calls made on the app, it helped trigger the mass protests that swept the country in 2019.
OSHA Imposes New Guidance for Employer-Required COVID-19 Vaccines
Engineering News Record reported:
New guidance from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is causing contractors to change their COVID-19 vaccine requirements, and many of them criticize the guidance as diametrically opposed to the Biden administration’s stated desire to increase vaccinations.
On April 20, OSHA released the new guidance in the frequently asked questions section of its website for COVID-19 safety compliance.
New Mask Mandate Can Promote COVID-19 Vaccines for Those Vaccine-Hesitant
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Thursday, Americans who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus no longer have to wear face masks or practice 6-feet of social distancing.
For more than a year, the use of face masks have been enforced throughout the country as a way to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. However, as more and more people are vaccinated, the CDC has ended the mandate.
In El Paso 50.3% of the population is fully vaccinated and 67.3% are partially vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to data from El Paso Strong dashboard.
New Hawaii Vaccine Pass Allows Vaccinated Residents to Travel Between Islands
Starting this week, fully vaccinated Hawaii residents can skip COVID-19 testing and quarantine requirements when flying between the islands.
According to the new rules, which Gov. David Ige announced last month, Hawaii residents who were vaccinated in the state are exempt from testing and quarantine on the 15th day after their final vaccine shot.
Ohio to Lift Most COVID-19 Restrictions June 2
Ohio is set to lift most of its coronavirus restrictions in less than a month, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine announced the new guidelines Wednesday, saying that the mask mandate and remaining coronavirus health orders will be lifted on June 2. Social distancing and capacity restrictions will no longer be required, although schools and businesses will have the ability to put their own rules into place.
The only exception will be for nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
South Carolina Governor Bans Mask Mandates
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued a coronavirus mandate Tuesday preventing schools and local governments from creating mask mandates. His order also bans the use of so-called vaccine passports in the state.
Under the 15-page executive order, parents — not public school officials or school districts — will decide whether students wear masks in class.
“We have known for months that our schools are some of the safest places when it comes to COVID-19,” McMaster said in a statement. “With every adult in our state having the opportunity to receive a vaccine, it goes against all logic to continue to force our children — especially our youngest children — to wear masks against their parents’ wishes.”
A CDC About-Face
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is finally catching up to the science.
For months, research about COVID-19 has pointed to two encouraging patterns. First, the underlying virus that causes COVID rarely spreads outdoors. Second — and even more important — fully vaccinated people are at virtually no risk of serious disease and only a minuscule risk of spreading the virus to others.
But the CDC., which has long been a cautious agency, has been unwilling to highlight these facts. It has instead focused on tiny risks — risks that are smaller than those from, say, taking a car trip. The CDC’s intricate list of recommended COVID behavior has baffled many Americans and frightened others, making the guidance less helpful than it might have been.
Amazon Facing Calls to Ban Police Use of Facial Recognition + More
Amazon Facing Calls From Civil Rights Groups to Permanently Ban Police Use of Facial Recognition as Deadline Approaches
Civil rights groups are calling on Amazon to permanently ban use of its facial recognition software, as an approaching deadline looms on the future of the technology.
In an open letter addressed to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and incoming CEO Andy Jassy, 44 civil rights groups pointed to ongoing instances of police violence against the Black community as evidence that Amazon should stop selling facial recognition technology to law enforcement.
“As a company, Amazon has a choice to make: Will you continue to profit from selling surveillance technology to law enforcement? Or will you stand for Black lives and divest from giving law enforcement these harmful tools?” said the letter, which was published Monday.
If You Don’t Want Robotic Dogs Patrolling the Streets, Consider CCOPS Legislation
Boston Dynamics’ robot “dogs,” or similar versions thereof, are already being employed by police departments in Hawaii, Massachusetts and New York. Partly through the veil of experimentation, few answers are being given by these police forces about the benefits and costs of using these powerful surveillance devices.
The American Civil Liberties Union, in a position paper on CCOPS (community control over police surveillance), proposes an act to promote transparency and protect civil rights and liberties with respect to surveillance technology. To date, 19 U.S. cities have passed CCOPS laws, which means, in practical terms, that virtually all other communities don’t have a requirement that police are transparent about their use of surveillance technologies.
News Publishers Should Have the Ability to Fight for Fair Compensation From Big Tech. Congress Can Help.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported:
Quality local journalism is essential for democracy, but for years the work of this news organization and others around the country have been victimized by the dominant practices of a few Big Tech companies.
Tech giants like Google and Facebook benefit from local news produced by newsrooms like ours, but they don’t return that value to us. That is a serious threat to the economic viability of local news organizations.
To give local publishers a fair shake, members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation, along with their colleagues, should support the “Journalism Competition and Preservation Act.”
Big Tech’s Reputation Takes a Pandemic Plunge
Americans have fallen further out of love with Big Tech, the latest Axios/Harris 100 brand reputation poll shows.
Why it matters: Even though Americans were hyper-connected to their devices throughout the pandemic, their relationship with many of the world’s biggest tech firms has continued on a downward trend, suggesting that people see their products as necessary evils.
Social media leaders Facebook and Twitter failed to improve their standing near the bottom of the list, despite their role in helping users stay connected through pandemic-era isolation.
Gregg Jarrett: It’s Time to Crush Big Tech Censorship Before Facebook, Twitter and Others Crush Us
Never before has so much power been held by so few. And never before has that power been so egregiously abused.
The censorship applied to American news consumers by Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Google, and Apple must be broken up. They have evolved into massive monopolies that pose a grave danger to democracy by suppressing speech with which they disagree.
The staggering wealth and unbridled power of these tech giants allow them to punish political adversaries and protect partisan allies. They do so with impunity and no regard for the public interest. Examples abound.
Court Asked to Prohibit Facebook From Censoring Vaccine Critics + More
Court Asked to Prohibit Facebook From Censoring Vaccine Critics
The Rogersville Review reported:
The Rutherford Institute has asked a federal court to prohibit Facebook from censoring and de-platforming critics of the COVID-19 vaccine in violation of the First Amendment.
In an amicus brief filed in Children’s Health Defense v. Facebook, Rutherford Institute attorneys argue that Facebook acted in concert with U.S. government officials and agencies to suppress and punish Children’s Health Defense for sharing information critical of the dangers of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We should all be alarmed when prominent social media voices are censored, silenced and made to disappear from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram for voicing ideas that are deemed politically incorrect, hateful, dangerous, extremist or conspiratorial,” said constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute and author of “Battlefield America: The War on the American People.”
People Deserve to Know About the Health Effects of 5G and EMFs
There are zero studies that prove that 5G is safe for our health. During a federal Senate hearing, the representatives of the telecom industry also communicated that there were no future plans to conduct any independent 5G safety studies.
Currently there is a federal case against the Federal Communications Commission charging that the safety standards that were tested for 1G are still being applied 24 years later to 5G without being updated.
The facts are, more than 10,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies demonstrate harm to human health from radio frequency (RF) radiation. Some effects include: insomnia, headaches and head pressure; ringing of the ears; nausea, stomach pains, digestive problems and fatigue; learning and memory deficits, brain fog, and dizziness; depression, anxiety, and mood changes; skin rashes, aches and pains; obesity and diabetes; heart palpitations and cardiovascular disease; and cancers.
Vaccine Passport Rebellion: ‘You’re Not Going to Brand Us!’
On the same day that Orange County recorded some of its most positive coronavirus statistics to date — nearing the least restrictive yellow tier in the state’s reopening blueprint — hundreds of protesters gathered to blast the Board of Supervisors for a proposal to create “vaccine passports,” or digital records that document COVID-19 vaccination status.
The public backlash began in April after the county announced plans to launch a pilot program for credentialing. Almost immediately, a vocal group of opponents expressed concern that the digital records would be used to “track” people and reveal private healthcare information. Opponents also said it would allow the county to favor residents who chose to get vaccinated.
French Lawmakers Approve COVID ‘Health Pass’ at Second Attempt
France’s National Assembly approved on Wednesday the creation of a COVID-19 “health pass” that people can use to attend sports events, festivals and theme parks with large crowds, a hotly contested government measure to help safely re-open the economy.
The health pass, which will come into effect from June 9, will provide proof that a person has either been vaccinated against the coronavirus, holds a recent negative PCR test, or is recovering from COVID-19 and therefore has natural antibodies.
The proposal was initially shot down in the lower house on Tuesday evening over fears it would impinge on civil freedoms, a rare defeat for President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party, after centrist MoDem allies rebelled.
European Union Seeks to Reopen Travel With Vaccination Pass
As COVID-19 infection rates begin to drop in the region, European Union ministers met in Brussels Tuesday in hopes of reaching an agreement on a “green certificate” travel pass designed to make it easier for fully vaccinated tourists to travel in the continent in time for the summer vacation season.
The EU’s executive arm, the European Commission, first suggested the plan earlier this year, patterned after the so-called “Green Pass” issued in Israel that allows vaccinated people access to certain venues or events.
In Europe, the commission suggested the certificates would allow EU residents who can prove they have been vaccinated, as well as those who tested negative for the virus or have proof they recovered from it, to move freely around the continent.
Lockdowns Didn’t Stop COVID + More
Lockdowns Didn’t Stop COVID
The Wall Street Journal reported:
COVID-19 lockdowns shaved 3.5% off U.S. GDP in 2020 even as the federal government spent more than $2.6 trillion in relief measures. Millions of children fell behind in learning and nearly 100,000 businesses closed for good.
Conventional wisdom holds this was worth it because lives were saved by shutting workplaces and schools and telling people to stay home. But a new study by University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan shows the opposite. After the first month of the pandemic, organizations that adopted prevention protocols became safer places than the wider community.
Officials who didn’t see that coming forgot that organizations are rational and look for cooperative solutions that improve the welfare of the group, such as reducing the risks of communicable disease.
NY Stadium Plan Would Separate Vaccinated, Unvaccinated People at Baseball Games
The new rules allow vaccinated fans, and their children under age 16, to sit in special seating sections at professional baseball games, including the Rochester Red Wings, Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Syracuse Mets and Toronto Blue Jays games scheduled at Sahlen Field in Buffalo. The fans would still be required to wear face coverings.
Unvaccinated fans attending the games will be seated in sections with a 33% occupancy limit and a six-foot social distance rule, as well as mandatory face coverings.
Restaurants Need Workers. Would an Employee Vaccine Mandate Bring Them Back?
Before implementing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees at his 15 Chicago restaurants, Fifty/50 Restaurant Group co-founder Scott Weiner did his due diligence. He consulted a lawyer, discussed the idea with his staff, and developed a policy around the requirement …
Getting shots in the arms of industry staffers will undoubtedly make restaurants safer places to work. Returning the industry to something resembling its pre-pandemic scale, though, is dependent on a range of factors, many of which don’t necessarily hinge on overall vaccine rates. For example: how well owners meet worker demands for better pay and treatment; the efficacy of the vaccines against variants; and when and how state and local governments decide to ease or lift pandemic capacity restrictions.
ImmunaBand Bracelet Is A Wearable Vaccine Passport
An enterprising company is selling a way for people to easily share their COVID-19 vaccination status: a $20 bracelet with a QR code that can be scanned to show their shot cards.
“Wear this bracelet to work, to restaurants, and to let people know your commitment to overcoming this disease through your completion of the vaccination series,” the company says on its website. “The bracelet is also a symbol of your commitment to safety — for yourself and for others.”
The company’s president, J. Tashof Bernton, says a customer was allowed into a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden in New York by showing his bracelet and having an employee scan the code, Fox 5 San Diego reported.
Indianapolis Keeps Mask Mandate, Business Health Restrictions Despite New Legislation
Indianapolis city officials moved quickly to keep the current Marion County public health orders in place Monday night, just hours after legislators voted to void all local coronavirus restrictions.
The new legislation, Senate Bill 5, requires local health departments to get approval from the local legislative bodies and mayors if a city seeks to enact health orders that are more strict than statewide restrictions.
The health board or health officer also cannot file a court action to enforce a health order unless it receives approval from the legislative body, such as the City-County Council.
