Big Brother News Watch
Hospital Finds an Unlikely Group Opposing Vaccination: Its Workers + More
Hospital Finds an Unlikely Group Opposing Vaccination: Its Workers
Their movement started discreetly, just a handful of people communicating on encrypted apps like WhatsApp and Signal. But in just days it had ballooned tenfold. And within two weeks, it had turned into a full-blown public protest, with people waving picket signs to denounce efforts to push them to receive coronavirus vaccines.
But these were not just any vaccine resisters. They were nurses, medical technicians, infection control officers and other staff who work at a hospital in Staten Island, which has the highest rate of COVID-19 infection of any borough in New York City.
NYC Mandates Vaccinations for Public School Teachers, Staff
The Associated Press reported:
All New York City public school teachers and other staffers will have to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, officials said Monday, ramping up pandemic protections as the nation’s largest school system prepares for classes to start next month.
The city previously said teachers, like other city employees, would have to get the shots or get tested weekly for the virus. The new policy marks the first no-option vaccination mandate for a broad group of city workers in the nation’s most populous city, though Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Friday that coaches and students in football, basketball and other “high-risk” sports would have to get inoculated before play begins.
Now, about 148,000 school employees — and contractors who work in schools — will have to get at least a first dose by Sept. 27, according to an announcement from the Democratic mayor and the city health and education departments.
Pentagon to Mandate COVID-19 Vaccine for Military
The U.S. military will move to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for all service members now that the Pfizer vaccine has full approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Pentagon’s top spokesperson announced Monday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is “prepared to issue updated guidance requiring all service members to be vaccinated,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters.
It’s Time to Break Up Big Tech’s Media Monopoly
It is no secret that Big Tech’s news and information monopoly has created a big problem for news publishers and content creators across the U.S.
Google News, Facebook News, and analogous news aggregator sites drive a great deal of traffic to their respective sites by presenting a continuous flow of links to articles from thousands of publishers.
These aggregator websites are, in turn, able to monetize their own advertising and related products — and are able to do so without fairly compensating publishers for their material. As a result, the publishing industry has been on life support for over a decade.
Big Tech Companies Have Profiles on You – Here’s How to See Them
It should be no surprise to anybody that social media and tech companies gather a lot of information about you. In most cases, you supply the data willingly (or sometimes begrudgingly) so that you can access their services. Tap or click here for 10 Facebook privacy and security settings you need to change right now.
But many people don’t know that almost every Big Tech company has at least some information on you. If you think about it, where do you suppose targeted advertising comes from? How do they know which ads to serve you?
Apple, Google, and companies like Facebook all have a profile on you. But what exactly do they know? Well, there is a way for you to find out.
Healthcare Systems Wary of Instituting COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Over Fears of Losing Staff
Healthcare providers hesitate to require workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of employment, fearing a mandate could cause the resignations of staff they cannot afford to lose.
“[Hospitals] are doing a balancing act between caring for patients and not contributing to the pandemic by spreading COVID-19 through unvaccinated clinicians,” said Audrey Capozzoli, president of Renal Reserve, a national dialysis staffing agency. “Hospitals that mandate vaccinations and may terminate employees who refuse to get them could find themselves short-staffed. This leads to staff burnout and further reduction of qualified clinicians.”
Why National Teachers Unions Support Vaccine Mandates But Won’t Require Them
This fall, as many schools across the country are planning to reopen for full in-person learning, parents and educators are bracing for the third straight school year to be disrupted by COVID-19.
And yet, according to one survey by the Center for Reinventing Public Education, of the 100 biggest urban school districts in the nation, only 13 have some requirement that teachers be vaccinated. Just seven of those — Chicago, Denver, D.C, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, and as of Monday, New York City — have made the vaccine requirement universal for all school staff.
Which means that the vast majority of biggest school districts in the country are allowing at least some unvaccinated teachers into the classroom, even if they have other safety requirements, like testing or masking.
COVID Vaccine Protesters Rally in Santa MonicaBig Tech Has Outgrown This Planet
Los Angeles Daily News reported:
A coalition of groups including medical professionals, first responders, parents and students will gather in Santa Monica Saturday to protest Los Angeles’ impending COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying it will segregate the city, breed more hate and violate the rights of tens of thousands of people.
The “S.O.S California No Vaccine Passport Rally” is being organized by the California chapter of Children’s Health Defense, California Parents United, Latinos for Medical Freedom, Central Coast Health Coalition, Advocates for Physicians Rights, America’s Frontline Doctors, Vaccine Injury Awareness League, Freedom of Religion — United Solutions, Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids, Freedom Angels, UtahRevival.com, Mama Bears Radio and Million Mamas Movement.
Big Tech Has Outgrown This Planet
The already bonkers dollars of Big Tech have become even bonkers-er.
My colleagues and I have written a lot about the unreal sales, profits and oomph of America’s five technology titans — Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Facebook. This might feel like old news. Tech’s Titanic 5 have been big and rich for a long time, and they’ve gotten even more so as people and organizations have needed their products during the coronavirus pandemic. Yadda, yadda, yadda. We get it.
But no, we really don’t get it. American’s technology superstars have launched into a completely different stratosphere than even other wildly successful companies in tech and beyond.
London Protest: Anti-Vaccine Passport Protesters Storm ITV, Channel 4 News Office
Protesters on Monday have stormed London HQ office of ITN, which produces ITV News and Channel 4 News.
Footage circulated on social media showed cops lining up to barricade the entrance to the building on Gray’s Inn Road.
However, a large number of demonstrators, who appear to be part of a protest against coronavirus vaccine passports, appear to have already entered the ITN building.
NYC Vaccination Program Will Require IDs to Eat Indoors to Prevent ‘Fraud’ + More
NYC Vaccination Program Will Require IDs to Eat Indoors to Prevent ‘Fraud’
New York City’s vaccination requirement to dine in restaurants requires people to show both a proof of vaccination and an ID “to help reduce fraud.”
“NYC’s new vaccination screening program for indoor dining etc requires that you show proof of vax *and* ID. If you have an ID—don’t forget to bring it. If you need an ID—get the City’s IDNYC. Available to all including undocumented,” Democratic New York City councilmember Mark D. Levine tweeted on Friday.
Biden’s No-Jab-No-Job Order Creates Quandary for Nursing Homes
President Joe Biden’s edict that nursing homes must ensure their workers are vaccinated against COVID-19 presents a challenge for an industry struggling to entice its lowest-paid workers to get shots without driving them to seek employment elsewhere.
Although 83% of residents in the average nursing facility are vaccinated, only 61% of a home’s workers are likely to be, according to data submitted by homes and published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as of the week ending Aug. 8. More than 602,000 staff members have contracted covid and more than 2,000 have died from it.
That led Biden to declare Wednesday that the government would require employee vaccinations as a condition for nursing homes to receive Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, which account for most of the industry’s income.
French Scientist Who Pushed Unproven COVID Drug May Be Forced From Post
The French scientist who promoted the discredited hydroxychloroquine treatment for COVID-19 backed by Donald Trump faces being pushed out of the infectious diseases institute he founded, amid concerns from key members over its role in feeding conspiracy theories and an investigation by regulators into its clinical studies.
Didier Raoult has built a worldwide following throughout the pandemic for his support of the malaria drug despite its failure in randomized control trials. Multiple studies, including by the Recovery trial and the World Health Organization, have found hydroxychloroquine to be ineffective in treating COVID-19.
Facebook Takes Action Against ‘Disinformation Dozen’ After White House Pressure
Facebook on Wednesday announced that it had taken action against the so-called “disinformation dozen,” one month after the White House singled out the twelve people and argued that they were responsible for a majority of coronavirus misinformation.
In making the announcement, Monika Bickert, vice president of content policy at Facebook, pushed back against the narrative that the twelve accounts were primarily responsible for the spread of vaccine misinformation, writing that focusing on them “misses the forest for the trees.”
But, Bickert said, “Any amount of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation that violates our policies is too much by our standards — and we have removed over three dozen Pages, groups and Facebook or Instagram accounts linked to these 12 people, including at least one linked to each of the 12 people, for violating our policies.”
Bickert added that Facebook had “also imposed penalties on nearly two dozen additional Pages, groups or accounts linked to these 12 people” and “applied penalties to some of their website domains.”
HFDF Lawsuit Prompts Executive Order Barring COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
Health Freedom Defense Fund reported:
Monday, Aug.16, 2021, prompted by a Health Freedom Defense Fund (HFDF) lawsuit, Governor Ducey of Arizona issued an Executive Order barring any city, county, state, or state entity from mandating COVID-19 vaccines thereby protecting the rights of Arizonans to direct their own healthcare choices. HFDF thanks Governor Ducey for defending the most basic of human rights, that of bodily autonomy.
The Governor’s order capped off a day of twists and turns in HFDF’s lawsuit, filed Aug. 2, 2021 on behalf of Phoenix High School teacher Douglas Hester. The lawsuit sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the Phoenix Union High School District’s mask mandate because it violates a new Arizona law prohibiting mask and vaccine mandates.
Montana Only State to Ban Vaccine Requirements for Employees
The Associated Press reported:
While many large companies across the U.S. have announced that COVID-19 vaccines will be required for their employees to return to work in-person, there is one state where such requirements are banned: Montana.
Under a new law passed by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature earlier this year, requiring vaccines as a condition for employment is deemed “discrimination” and a violation of the state’s human rights laws.
Montana is the only state in the U.S. with a law like this for private employers, said Hemi Tewarson, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy.
Massachusetts Orders Over 40,000 State Workers to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine — or Potentially Get Fired
Get the COVID-19 vaccine or potentially lose your job.
That’s the choice Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is giving to tens of thousands of state government workers.
The Republican governor announced Thursday that he is ordering all of the state’s Executive Branch employees to provide proof that they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 17 or face “disciplinary action, up to and including termination.”
According to Baker’s office, the new mandate covers roughly 42,000 employees, from the governor’s office to departments of public safety, education, transportation, and others. It also covers around 2,000 additional contracted employees that work for the state’s executive departments.
Vaccine Mandates at Work Meet Their Toughest Opponent: America’s Labor Shortage
At Kevin Smith’s home health care agency in Massachusetts, only 52% of his 400 staff members have been vaccinated. He’d like to order them all to get the shot, but he says he can’t risk a mass exodus.
It’s a legitimate fear. The labor market is very tight, with a record number of job openings and not enough job candidates. And among unvaccinated workers asked what they would do if their employer instituted a mandate, 50% said they’d leave their job, according to a June survey by health policy think tank KFF.
“It puts you at risk of alienating the staff, if not losing them to a competitor,” said Smith, who has run the family-owned Best of Care since 2013. “No one can afford to do that. That is why any employer in our industry is so reluctant to impose a mandate.”
The meeting of the labor market challenge and public health crisis puts employers in a tough spot: The worker shortage means employer mandates are not likely to be the answer to raising the nation’s vaccination rate. But a higher inoculation rate is exactly what experts say we need to end the pandemic.
University Will Fine, Cut Internet Access to Unvaccinated Students + More
U.S. University Announces It Will Fine, Cut Internet Access to Unvaccinated Students
A university in Connecticut implemented a new policy requiring students to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or lose access to the school Wi-Fi network and face other penalties.
Quinnipiac University issued the new regulations to students via email explaining it will apply a weekly fee of up to $2,275 per semester for unvaccinated students, mandatory weekly COVID-19 tests and loss of access to campus network and WiFi.
The email detailing these penalties was sent to roughly 600 students who had not submitted any proof of vaccination. Less than 10,000 students attend Quinnipiac, per a university spokesperson.
Biden to Require Nursing Homes Get Staff Vaccinated or Lose Federal Funds
President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he is directing all nursing homes to require their staff be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to continue receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Biden said he is directing the Department of Health and Human Services to draw up new regulations making employee vaccination a condition for nursing homes to participate in Medicare and Medicaid. The decision on nursing home staff represents a significant escalation in Biden’s campaign to get Americans vaccinated and the tools he is willing to use, marking the first time he has threatened to withhold federal funds in order to get people vaccinated.
Washington State Sets Highest Bar Yet for School Vaccine Mandates
All teachers and school personnel in Washington State — including coaches, bus drivers and volunteers — will need to be fully vaccinated as a condition of employment, under a new policy announced by Gov. Jay Inslee on Wednesday. The requirement applies to staff regardless of the type of school in which they work: public, charter or private.
The policy is the strictest vaccine mandate imposed to date by any state for teachers and other staff members in schools, allowing for only a few exceptions. School staff must be vaccinated by Oct. 18 or face possible dismissal.
Culver City Unified to Require Students 12 And Older to Get COVID Vaccine
CBS Los Angeles via MSN reported:
The Culver City Unified School District is believed to be the first in California to mandate its students ages 12 and older get vaccinated against the coronavirus.
The district announced this week that all eligible students and staff will be required to get vaccinated.
“We are mandating vaccines for all eligible staff and students,” the district wrote in a letter to parents Tuesday evening. “We will begin gathering vaccine status data immediately.”
A New Resource for Fighting Vaccine Misinformation
We are aware that people who are unvaccinated have different reasons and concerns for their decision. Some have medical conditions, for example, that preclude getting immunized; others come from underserved communities and wish to be vaccinated but have limited access.
At the same time, we also know that health misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID are rampant. They do real damage and endanger public health. They have been linked to a decreased likelihood of following public health advice, such as wearing masks, and can influence health decisions, such as intent to get COVID vaccines.
Local Police Department Sues Over ‘Unlawful’ Vaccine Mandate
City officials met on Friday and voted 6 to 1 on an ordinance that requires all of the city’s approximately 4,500 employees to provide proof of vaccination, this includes the 750 employees of the police force.
Of these 4,500, the city estimates that about 1,000 are unvaccinated, according to City Manager Michael Ortega’s memorandum. Those who do not will face a five-day suspension unless they have previously noted religious or medical exemptions.
However, if at least 750 unvaccinated employees get vaccinated before August 20 the ordinance will not go into effect.
The lawsuit, which was filed Monday in the Pima County Superior Court, lists the city of Tucson, Mayor Regina Romero, City Manager Michael Ortega, and six council members as defendants. The complaint states that the new mandate breaks the contract the city has with the union and claims the decision made Friday goes against labor agreements made between them and the city.
Senators Challenge TikTok’s ‘Alarming’ Plan to Collect Users’ Voice and Face Biometrics
TikTok’s plans to collect biometric identifiers from its users has prompted concern among U.S. lawmakers, who are demanding the company reveal exactly what information it collects and what it plans to do with that data.
In a letter sent earlier this month addressed to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Thune, (R-SD) say they are “alarmed” by the recent change to TikTok’s privacy policy, which allows the company to “automatically collect biometric data, including certain physical and behavioral characteristics from video content posted by its users.”
More Than 90 Policy Groups Call for Apple to Abandon Plan to Scan Images on iPhones
Apple has been urged to drop its plans to scan iPhones for child sexual abuse material, in a new open letter signed by more than 90 policy and rights groups.
Earlier this month, the company announced that it would add a feature to the iPhone that scanned images for known child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, when they were uploaded to its servers, and alert the company if it was found. It also said that phones would use artificial intelligence to spot when children were exchanging pictures that appeared to feature nudity, and alert their parents.
Apple has said that the feature is required in the face of the vast amount of abuse imagery that circulates online. It has said it is built with privacy in mind, including tools that ensure the analysis happens on users’ phones rather than in the cloud.
But privacy activists and security experts have raised concerns that the feature could be misused. It could be used to scan for other kinds of images, experts have suggested, alongside other potential problems.
Facebook Launches VR Remote Work App, Calling It a Step to the ‘Metaverse’
Facebook Inc on Thursday launched a test of a new virtual-reality remote work app where users of the company’s Oculus Quest 2 headsets can hold meetings as avatar versions of themselves.
The beta test of Facebook‘s Horizon Workrooms app comes as many companies continue to work from home after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down physical workspaces and as a new variant is sweeping across the globe.
Facebook sees its latest launch as an early step toward building the futuristic “metaverse” that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has touted in recent weeks.
Data In The Dark: How Big Tech Secretly Secured $800 Million in Tax Breaks for Data Centers
Columbus City council member Emmanuel Remy listened intently as the lawyer on his computer screen argued why the company he represented was entitled to a big tax break. During the virtual council meeting in March, the attorney said the company intended to build a data center on a 500-acre site just south of Ohio’s capital city, which, when complete, would employ 20 people full time. In return, the company wanted $54 million in tax incentives.
“This is like the new manufacturing,” the lawyer, Scott Ziance, told the elected officials. In particular, Ziance emphasized the benefit to the community in construction jobs as the facility was being built.
The company Ziance represented wasn’t Amazon, Microsoft or Facebook, but a Delaware-registered shell company called Magellan Enterprises LLC. It was Magellan’s undisclosed parent, one of the biggest technology companies in the world, that Ziance said had a track record of working “collaboratively” with cities — and wanted the tax breaks in exchange for jobs the data center would bring. “You’ll be very proud to have this company and its parent in your community,” he said.
Restaurants Sue NYC, de Blasio for Indoor Dining Vaccination Mandate + More
Restaurants Sue New York City, de Blasio for Indoor Dining Vaccination Mandate
Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city of New York are facing their first lawsuit from restaurants for the executive order requiring proof of vaccination to dine indoors.
The Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescue, Max’s Esca, DeLuca’s Italian Restaurant and Pasticceria Rocco are seeking an injunction against de Blasio’s executive order. Two fitness venues, Evolve-33 and Staten Island Judo Jujitsu, were also listed as plaintiffs in the complaint. All of the plaintiffs, excluding Pasticceria Rocco, are based in Staten Island. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in New York Supreme Court.
Nick Paolucci, press secretary for New York City’s law department, said that the city is reviewing the complaint.
TSA Extends Mask Mandate for All Airline Passengers and Employees
Federal officials are extending into January a requirement that people on airline flights and public transportation wear face masks, a rule intended to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The Transportation Security Administration’s current order was scheduled to expire Sept. 13. An agency spokesman said Tuesday that the mandate will be extended until Jan. 18.
The TSA briefed airline industry representatives on its plan Tuesday and planned to discuss it with airline unions on Wednesday. The mask rule also applies to employees on planes and public transportation.
Tennessee Gov Allows Opt-Out of Student Mask Requirements
The Associated Press reported:
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed an executive order Monday letting parents opt their children out of coronavirus-related mask mandates in K-12 schools, after a few school districts issued mask requirements for students and others.
With the move, Lee also said he will not call the broad special legislative session requested by Republican House lawmakers to limit the authority of local officials to make rules aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19, which has seen a resurgence in Tennessee via the delta variant.
Amazon is Emailing Sellers to Warn Them About Congress’ Big Tech Antitrust Bills
Amazon is reaching out to third-party merchants to warn them that proposed antitrust reforms in Congress could limit their ability to hawk their wares on its marketplace.
Members of Amazon’s public policy team recently contacted a small number of third-party sellers with successful businesses on its marketplace about setting up meetings to discuss the legislation, according to an email viewed by CNBC.
“We’re reaching out to a small group of our sellers to make them aware of a package of legislative proposals, currently in Congress, that is aimed at regulating Amazon and other large technology companies,” the email states. “It is early in the process and the bills are subject to change, but we are concerned that they could potentially have significant negative effects on small and medium-sized businesses like yours that sell in our store.”
Businesses Are Refusing to Enforce France’s Vaccine Passport
As we highlighted last week, on the first day the new program was in place, police were visibly patrolling bars and cafes demanding customers show proof they’ve had the jab.
However, this seems to have largely been a bluff as just days later, businesses and venues have become very lax at checking people’s papers despite the threat of large fines.
“I decided to do a simple experiment to find out: always present an expired test even though I had a valid negative one, and see what happens,” writes Hearn.
“Over a four day stay I was required to show a valid pass exactly zero times; that includes at the airports in both directions. Compliance is absolutely min viable and often lower.”
Big Tech Acts Like Big Brother
The Wall Street Journal reported:
The notice came in white text on a dark screen: “This video has been removed for violating YouTube’s Community Guidelines.” The company last week blocked a 45-minute video of my news conference announcing a lawsuit challenging Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “vaccine passport” as an invasion of New Yorkers’ privacy and an unreasonable mandate on small businesses.
I believe the vaccine is safe, effective and the best means of combating the Covid pandemic. But Mr. de Blasio’s mandate is a clear government overreach. Still YouTube removed the video, citing an alleged violation, never explained, of its “medical misinformation policy.” The video was censored for two days. After I appealed YouTube’s decision twice, the video reappeared and I was notified that after “taking another look,” YouTube had changed its mind.
Behind the platforms, the people deciding what is “misinformation” and a violation of “community guidelines” are doing so in a subjective manner. Social-media giants suspended the U.S. president while continuing to provide a megaphone to tyrants like Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Venezuela’s Nicolas Máduro and Cuba’s Miguel Díaz-Canel.
How Artist Ben Grosser Is Cutting Mark Zuckerberg Down to Size
When the history of the first decades of this century comes to be written, there will be few more telling artworks than Ben Grosser’s film Order of Magnitude. In the 47 minute video, Grosser, a digital artist and professor of new media at the University of Illinois, has spliced together every public instance in which Mark Zuckerberg has talked of “more” and “bigger”.
The resulting montage of interviews and presentations is a fast forward of the rapid growth of Facebook as, in the chief executive’s mouth, thousands become millions then billions. It makes a mesmerizing monologue, the story of our times.
