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Mayor Adams Prevails in Court to Keep NYC School Mask Rule for Kids Under 5
The city’s youngest children must continue to wear face masks in school after an Appellate Division judge stepped in late Friday to uphold Mayor Adams’ mandate on the controversial issue — for now.
The order signed by Brooklyn-based appeals judge Paul Wooten capped a confusing set of legal developments that unfolded earlier in the day on the school mask mandate for kids younger than 5.
First, Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio rescinded the requirement for the toddlers with immediate effect, declaring in a ruling that it could no longer be enforced due to its “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable” nature.
But Adams — who previously vowed to lift the mask rule for the youngsters next week barring a COVID-19 spike — immediately appealed Porzio’s ruling. Adams cited a recent uptick in infections in the city driven by the highly contagious BA.2 Omicron subvariant of the virus.
Cryptocurrency Could Help Governments and Businesses Spy on Us
Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, was designed to enable transactions using only digital identities and without the intervention of a trusted third party, like a bank. This seemed a godsend to those concerned about the rapid erosion of privacy in our increasingly digital age — and those looking for covert ways to exchange money.
Bitcoin’s introduction in early 2009, when the global financial crisis had decimated trust in governments and banks, was perfectly timed with a growing aversion to these big institutions.
It turns out that cryptocurrency does not, in fact, guarantee anonymity. Users’ digital identities can, with some effort, be connected to their real identities. Moreover, in an ultimate irony, the revolution that bitcoin started might end up destroying whatever vestiges of privacy are left in modern financial markets.
As the technology goes mainstream, it threatens to give big corporations and government a better view into our financial lives and greater control over how we spend our money.
Hennepin County Could Suspend or Fire More Than 100 Employees Who Haven’t Received COVID Vaccination
Star Tribune via Yahoo!News reported:
More than 100 Hennepin County employees are facing suspension or termination this week for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The deadline for compliance is Monday, and some workers have exhausted their latest legal challenge.
All unvaccinated employees have until Thursday to prove to human resources that they are in compliance. If they refuse, the county will initiate disciplinary action, as it would for failure to comply with any mandatory policy, said County Administrator David Hough.
If the county follows through, it would be among the largest, or possibly the largest, mass firing of Minnesota public workers for failing to comply with a vaccination requirement.
The County Board voted in November to require its nearly 9,000 employees to get vaccinated unless they received a religious or medical exemption. As of Friday, approximately 475 employees had such exemptions, and those workers must be tested for COVID weekly.
Thomas More Law Center to U.S. Supreme Court: Stop N.Y. Governor From Dictating Which Religious Beliefs Are Allowed
The Thomas More Law Center, a national nonprofit public interest law firm, filed a brief last week in the U.S. Supreme Court opposing New York’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. From the beginning COVID-19 pandemic, these healthcare workers courageously manned the front lines, reads a news release from the firm which is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and represents more than 400 physicians, surgeons, nurses and medical professionals.
Erin Mersino, the law center’s Chief of Supreme Court and Appellate Practice authored the brief. She highlighted the precarious position of New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul — who instructed New Yorkers that “God wants” everyone to use these vaccines, and that individuals who have decided not to undergo COVID-19 vaccination “aren’t listening to God and what God wants.” Hochul published these statements on New York’s official state website.
Since Hochul claims to be the authority on what God wants, she removed all religious accommodations from the vaccine mandate. However, many individuals sincerely held religious beliefs that prohibit them from using the three COVID-19 vaccines on the market today and call for alternatives that have no connection to aborted fetal cell lines. The governor failed to consider the spectrum of diverse religious views allowed under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
Facebook Parent Company Backtracks on Requiring COVID Booster for Workers Coming to Office
Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms (META) will stop requiring booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines for employees going into their U.S. offices.
“We updated our requirements in early March to align with CDC guidance and now COVID-19 boosters are no longer required for entry, though strongly recommended,” Meta Company Spokesperson Tracy Clayton told Fox Business on Saturday. “The primary vaccination requirement (1- or 2-shot series) remains in place.”
In January, Meta Platforms delayed its employees’ return to the office to March 28, requiring the boosters as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus spread around the nation.
It’s Time to Consider Relaxing Mask Requirements on Flights
In fact, it’s time for the Transportation Security Administration to take a step back and review its mask mandate for flights, which expires on April 18. The science supports relaxing the rule during flights — provided other key measures are in place to protect passengers.
As I’ve written previously, people are no more likely to contract diseases on a plane than in any other setting, contrary to conventional wisdom. I’ve studied airplane air quality for over a decade and served as one of the lead authors of a report for the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies on infectious-disease transmission in airports and on airplanes, so it’s a topic I know well.
Even at the beginning of the pandemic, the science was clear that although transmission can happen on an airplane, it’s very rare. The scientific evidence accumulated since the start of the pandemic confirms this.
California Ends Proof of COVID Vaccination, Test Mandate for Indoor Mega Events
California is no longer requiring people to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to attend indoor mega events and sporting events. This includes Golden State Warriors and San Jose Sharks home games.
14,000 people crowded into SAP Center to watch the Sharks take on the Dallas Stars Saturday but the buzz was about fans no longer having to show proof of vaccine or a negative COVID test.
The state’s new guidelines went into effect Friday and impact mega events, that’s indoor events with a thousand or more people. That also includes Chase Center in San Francisco, where fans also didn’t need to show proof of vaccination for the first time.
New York Renews Mask-Wearing Recommendation in 5 Counties as COVID Cases Surge 17%
Health officials have renewed calls for indoor mask wearing in the Central New York region as COVID-19 cases surged 17% last week and parts of upstate faced some of the worst BA.2 subvariant outbreaks in the country.
Amid the uptick in infections, the state Health Department on Friday issued an alert recommending mask wearing — regardless of vaccination status — in all public indoor spaces in Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties. Previously, New York ended its indoor mask mandates for public places and schools on Feb. 10 and March 2, respectively.
Travel in the Time of COVID: Getting There Is Easy — It’s Getting Home That’s Hard
I’m being held captive in England by the U.S. government. On the day my wife and I were to fly home from London after a brief visit, we took a COVID-19 test, as required by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to travel to the U.S. The United States will not allow anyone to fly into the country who has tested positive for COVID, and it is up to the airlines to enforce that.
My wife’s test was negative. My test was positive. She flew out. I stayed put.
But while in Britain, I don’t have to quarantine. The British government says I’m free to do whatever I want. I can ride the stifling Underground, visit beautiful museums, or stand in line for a crowded indoor concert. I could go full Typhoid Mary, if I wanted, and wander into quaint pubs, all without a mask. Hardly anyone in England seems to bother to wear one.
What I can’t do is ride an airplane, with air recirculated every three minutes, among people required to wear masks the whole time. Had I caught COVID while in the U.S., I could freely fly from Washington, DC, to San Francisco — masked, of course — without a problem. But not over the Atlantic.
German Lawmakers Seek Elusive Compromise on Vaccine Mandate
German lawmakers who proposed a requirement for all adults to be vaccinated against COVID-19 sought a compromise on Monday after struggling to win a majority in parliament, suggesting a less sweeping mandate that would initially oblige everyone aged 50 and above to get shots.
The 237 lawmakers who backed a mandate for all adults are now proposing a plan under which people aged 50 and above would be required to prove that they have been vaccinated starting Oct. 1, news agency dpa reported.
Lockdown Extended in Shanghai as All 26 Million Residents Are Tested for COVID
Chinese authorities have extended a strict COVID-19 lockdown in Shanghai while they study the outcomes of an effort to test all of the city’s 26 million residents for the coronavirus.
The lockdown measures were initially supposed to conclude Tuesday at 5 a.m. local time, Reuters reported. The city did not say how long the extension would last.
New EU Rules Would Allow It to Shut Down AI Before It Got Dangerous
Artificial Intelligence is everywhere: the rise of “thinking” machines has been one of the defining developments of the past two decades — and will only become more prominent as computing power increases.
The European Union has been working on a framework to regulate AI for some time, starting way back in March 2018, as part of its broader Digital Decade regulations.
Work on AI regulations has been relatively slow while the EU focuses on the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act, which focus on reigning in the American tech giants, but the work definitely continues.
The draft AI Act has been under a lot of scrutiny — and has received a fair amount of criticism — and will likely still fall short of the EU’s most expansive goals: creating the conditions for “trustworthy” and “human-centric” AI.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s Compensation Valued at $213 Million in 2021
Amazon. com Inc. Chief Executive Andy Jassy received compensation valued at $212.7 million in 2021, his first year as head of the tech and e-commerce giant.
The majority of his compensation was in stock awards to the tune of $211.9 million.
Mr. Jassy was named CEO in February 2021, succeeding founder Jeff Bezos after he announced his move from CEO to the role of executive chairman. Mr. Jassy officially stepped into the role in early July.
