Big Brother News Watch
Players ‘Free To Make Their Own Choices’ After Pitcher’s Anti-Vaccine Post, GM Says + More
Indians Players ‘Free To Make Their Own Choices and Decisions’ After Pitcher’s Anti-Vaccine Post, GM Says
Cleveland Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said Monday he spoke with pitcher James Karinchak about his anti-coronavirus vaccine stance, and while he defended the player’s right to speak out he said he told him the organization did not agree.
Antonetti addressed Karinchak’s social media post from early April.
“The vast majority of our players and staff opted for the vaccine and continue to follow the protocols around mask wearing, and that’s something we’ll continue to encourage and support. But in the end, people are free to make their own choices and decisions,” Antonetti said.
U.S. Army Used Virtual Town Hall to Convert — and Coerce — Vaccine Skeptics
The U.S. Army leadership is persuading soldiers to put blind faith in an EUA drug using miraculous claims even the manufacturers do not make about their products.
The six-person town hall panel consisted of Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA) Michael Grinston; Dr. Steven Cersovsky, science advisor to the U.S. Army Medical Command; three U.S. Army service members; and a moderator.
The one-hour session addressed three main concerns about the COVID vaccine among military members: infertility, variants of the virus and the speed with which the vaccines were developed.
Trust, Johnson & Johnson Shot Key to Vaccinating Homeless People
U.S. News and World Report reported:
This Friday, Fajama’s buddies were getting their second doses of the Moderna vaccine, provided at a site that was also open to walk-ups who were experiencing homelessness and not currently in a shelter program. Similar efforts have been ongoing elsewhere in the U.S. as well, as health officials and providers are trying to vaccinate their unhoused populations, whose members are often transient and hard to reach. They also may be at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.
“They have limited opportunities to practice social distancing, to wash their hands, even to wear masks,” says Bobby Watts, chief executive officer of the Tennessee-based National Health Care for the Homeless Council. “If you’re living out on the streets, it’s hard to keep a mask.”
Legislature Passes Measure Restricting Vaccine Requirements
The Independent Record reported:
Despite Montana’s health care industry warning that masks and visitation restrictions at medical facilities could become permanent, House Republicans passed a bill Monday that would prevent hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities from requiring any type of immunizations for staff, visitors or patients.
While indicating they had read House Bill 702 as doing just that, two influential GOP lawmakers in the House stood up to speak in favor of the bill, saying they had gotten assurances from the office of Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte that the concerns brought by medical providers were overblown.
Beijing’s ‘Big Tech’ Crackdown Continues With Anti-Trust Probe Into Food-Delivery Giant
Two weeks after China’s State Administration for Market Regulation — Beijing’s paramount anti-trust regulator — fined Alibaba a record $2.8 billion for abusing its market dominance, capping off the country’s first major anti-trust action to rein in one of the tech giants dominating the Chinese domestic economy, the CCP has just launched its next major anti-trust investigation.
The SCMP reported that China’s antitrust regulator on Monday officially launched a probe into food-delivery service provider Meituan, citing alleged monopolistic business practices like forcing merchants to “pick one from two” – that is, forcing merchants to either pick its platform as its exclusive distribution channel, or find themselves banned.
State Lawmakers Opposed to COVID Vaccine Mandates Have Filed a Flurry of Bills This Session. Some Worry About the Message They Send.
Sponsors of such measures say it’s a question of freedom of choice. They object to any requirement a person be vaccinated in order to work or enter venues like sports arenas or music events, arguing to do so would be government overreach.
“It goes back to personal liberties,” said Indiana state Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn. He and others argue businesses or the government shouldn’t be telling people what to put in their bodies.
Twitter Under Fire Over Deletion of Critical COVID Tweets in India + More
Twitter Under Fire Over Deletion of Critical COVID Tweets in India
The removal of dozens of tweets seen to be critical of the Indian government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic is putting people’s health at risk and quashing dissent, according to lawmakers and human rights activists.
Twitter withheld some tweets after a legal request by the Indian government, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Saturday. These included tweets from a lawmaker, a minister in the state of West Bengal, and a film-maker.
“Suppression of information and criticism of government is not only dangerous for India but it is putting people around the world at risk,” said Mirza Saaib Beg, a lawyer whose tweets were among those withheld.
The Ease of Tracking Mobile Phones of U.S. Soldiers in Hot Spots
The Wall Street Journal reported:
In 2016, a U.S. defense contractor named PlanetRisk Inc. was working on a software prototype when its employees discovered they could track U.S. military operations through the data generated by the apps on the mobile phones of American soldiers.
At the time, the company was using location data drawn from apps such as weather, games and dating services to build a surveillance tool that could monitor the travel of refugees from Syria to Europe and the U.S., according to interviews with former employees. The company’s goal was to sell the tool to U.S. counterterrorism and intelligence officials.
But buried in the data was evidence of sensitive U.S. military operations by American special-operations forces in Syria. The company’s analysts could see phones that had come from military facilities in the U.S., traveled through countries like Canada or Turkey and were clustered at the abandoned Lafarge Cement Factory in northern Syria, a staging area at the time for U.S. special-operations and allied forces.
This Researcher Says AI Is Neither Artificial nor Intelligent
Technology companies like to portray artificial intelligence as a precise and powerful tool for good. Kate Crawford says that mythology is flawed. In her book Atlas of AI, she visits a lithium mine, an Amazon warehouse, and a 19th-century phrenological skull archive to illustrate the natural resources, human sweat, and bad science underpinning some versions of the technology. Crawford, a professor at the University of Southern California and researcher at Microsoft, says many applications and side effects of AI are in urgent need of regulation.
Despite Virus, Global Military Spending Grew In 2020, Led by U.S.
Global military expenditure rose by 2.6 percent to $1.98 trillion last year even as some countries reallocated their defence funds to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in a report issued on Monday.
The five biggest spenders in 2020, which together accounted for 62 percent of military spending worldwide, were the United States, China, India, Russia and the United Kingdom, in that order, according to the Sweden-based body.
Apple and Google ‘Hold Data Hostage’ and Stifle Competition + More
Apple and Google ‘Hold Data Hostage’ and Stifle Competition, Senate Told
Apple and Google “hold data hostage” from small apps and force competitors to pay high commissions, stifling their ability to compete, a number of companies said in a US Senate hearing on Wednesday.
The hearing before the Senate antitrust committee offered a rare opportunity for smaller competitors – including Spotify, Tile and Match – to air their grievances against the tech behemoths before lawmakers. Representatives for the companies spoke about their experiences within Google and Apple’s app stores, where they claim to be subjected to high fees and copycat behavior.
The hearing came just a day after Apple introduced AirTags, a device that users can attach to items and track using an iPhone’s “Find My” software. AirTags has largely been seen as a direct copy of Samsung’s SmartTag and Tile Bluetooth trackers, which were founded 10 years ago.
WEBINAR: Cell Phone Brain Tumor Litigation — Legislation, Barriers and Opportunities
The Defender reported last week on a new lawsuit filed by the family of a Louisiana pastor alleging cell phone use caused the man’s fatal glioblastoma brain tumor. This is not the first case of its kind — there are more than 70 cell phone brain tumor cases in the U.S. Courts.
As the complaint filed last week demonstrates, there is ample evidence showing cell phones cause brain tumors, and that the telecommunications industry has misled the public to believe that cell phones are safe.
Attorney Hunter Lundy, one of the leading personal injury lawyers in the U.S. and who has been at the forefront of this litigation, and attorney Dafna Tachover, Children’s Health Defense’s (CHD) 5G and Wireless Harms Projectdirector, will shed light on the cell phone brain tumor litigation during a webinar Wednesday, April 28 at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT. Register below.
Take Action: Stop the EU Green Pass
The European Parliament will vote next week on a digital “Green Pass” that people would be required to present as proof they have been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID.
The pass would be required for travel between EU countries. Anyone traveling from outside the EU could also be required to present an equivalent pass.
Children’s Health Defense (CHD) is asking people in the U.S and EU to call EU Members of Parliament (MEP) and ask them to reject the Green Pass.
Postal Service Monitoring Americans’ Social Media Posts, Internal Document Reveals
“The federal government’s sprawling and clandestine surveillance apparatus manifests in a new way,” tweeted progressive activist Jordan Uhl. “These breaches of civil liberties largely go unchecked because, again, it targets right-wingers on Parler, but ultimately threatens everyone in the long run.”
Jana Winter of Yahoo News reported that the USPIS surveillance effort “involves having analysts trawl through social media sites to look for what the document describes as ‘inflammatory’ postings and then sharing that information across government agencies.”
‘Vaccine Passports Must Be Voluntary, Temporary & COVID-Focused’: Aviation Leaders Tell Lawmakers
“We support a digital health certificate, so it’s uniform, and I can flash-up on my iPhone and show — to someplace or some country that has a requirement — that I have been vaccinated or tested of my own accord,” he said.
“Like Sara said, this needs to be a voluntary program, it needs to be time-limited, but if for someone who travels a lot, like I do, it could be a great convenience and ease my way of travel, and provide countries that are requiring these things an easier way to make sure that the information is verifiable.
Vaccine Passports And Big Tech: Why Your Privacy Is At Serious Risk
And there’s the rub: You’d be leaving a rich data trial of where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing. These days no one would believe that this data would be protected from hackers or from being sold.
Moreover, power-hungry politicians and public health officials would be quick to use pretexts to expand the app’s use, including to track what foods you buy. After all, obesity is a big health crisis, and, lest you forget, remember that a former New York City mayor wanted to ban big bottles of soda to fight it!
U.S. Postal Service Monitoring Americans’ Social Media Posts + More
The Postal Service Is Running A ‘Covert Operations Program’ That Monitors Americans’ Social Media Posts
The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service has been quietly running a program that tracks and collects Americans’ social media posts, including those about planned protests, according to a document obtained by Yahoo News.
The details of the surveillance effort, known as iCOP, or Internet Covert Operations Program, have not previously been made public. The work involves having analysts trawl through social media sites to look for what the document describes as “inflammatory” postings and then sharing that information across government agencies.
The Global Race to Regulate AI
Acting FTC chairwoman Rebecca Slaughter told Axios: “I am pleased that the European Commission shares the FTC’s concerns about the risks posed by artificial intelligence… I look forward to reviewing the EC’s proposal as we learn from each other in pursuit of transparency, fairness, and accountability in algorithmic decision making.”
Why it matters: Artificial intelligence is no longer in its infancy and already has wide uses. Global governments are trying to wrap their arms around it, often taking different approaches.
Golden Knights’ Robin Lehner Says NHL Lied, Forced Players to Get COVID-19 Vaccine, League Disputes His Claim
On Wednesday, Vegas Golden Knights goalie Robin Lehner called out the NHL, saying the league is not staying true to previous promises surrounding COVID-19 vaccinations. Lehner claims the league told players if they got vaccinated restrictions would be loosened, but says that hasn’t been the case.
Lehner says the NHL forced the players to get the coronavirus vaccine and they were misled by what changes would be made if they agreed.
Following Lehner’s comments, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN that no such promises were made to the league’s players.
Trudeau Minister Says Internet Censorship Bill Will Make Canadians ‘Safer’
“My job is to ensure the safety and security of the Canadian population,” said the minister.
Guilbeault revealed that the legislation being tabled is the first step in creating a “safer environment for all people online and not just for a handful,” regulating hurtful content beyond what is already covered by the Criminal Code, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“With the legislation we will be tabling, it won’t matter whether or not the company is Canadian,” said Guilbeault. “It won’t matter where the company is registered or where their servers are located.”
GOP Lawmaker Ken Buck Urges Colleagues to Stop Taking Big Tech Money
The top Republican on the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust is leading six of his peers in swearing off campaign donations from Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Twitter.
Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., the subcommittee’s ranking member, announced Wednesday the “Pledge for America,” urging his peers to follow his earlier commitment to refuse Big Tech money. Those who sign are pledging not to accept donations from companies that violate the signers’ convictions about “the free market and the free exchange of ideas.”
“The threat posed by these monopolies is a real and present danger to conservatives, libertarians and anyone who does not agree with these corporations’ ultra-liberal points-of-view,” the pledge says.
