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A Candidate for New Jersey Governor Wants to Tax You for Not Getting Vaccinated
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Spadea is drawing fire after a video of him calling for a vaccine tax on his radio show resurfaced on X. Spadea said New Jersey residents who decline annual flu vaccinations should face higher health insurance premiums.
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- Bill Spadea proposed charging unvaccinated individuals more for health insurance during his NJ 101.5 radio show.
- He compared the policy idea to existing penalties for smokers.
- The statement has prompted backlash from conservatives and sparked debate on social media.
Speaking on his weekday program on NJ 101.5, Spadea, who is also a longtime radio personality, referenced his own commitment to getting a yearly flu shot and argued that others who refuse it should bear financial consequences.
The remarks quickly drew responses from co-hosts and callers, many of whom expressed skepticism or opposition to flu vaccinations. One caller said, “All right, so I don’t get the flu shot. You know why? A few years ago, I did. I got sick.”
7th Circ. Won’t Revive United Workers’ Vax Mandate Suit
A Seventh Circuit panel on Monday affirmed a district court’s decision to throw out a lawsuit from former employees challenging United Airlines’ COVID-19 vaccination mandate, agreeing that the workers’ claims are “either improperly preserved or inadequately pled.”
The group of nearly 30 current and former United employees looking to hold the airline liable for the way it handled its COVID-19 vaccination requirement and religious exemptions failed to engage on appeal with the district court’s finding that they had forfeited their Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, invasion of privacy and negligence claims, the panel said.
The workers failed to respond to United’s position that the section of the FDCA they sued under doesn’t allow for a private right of action, and left unaddressed United’s arguments that its postcards and mask mandate did not publicly disclose any private fact, the panel noted.
“Because forfeiture went unaddressed on appeal, and because forfeiture was an independent ground on which the district court rejected plaintiffs’ FDCA, invasion of privacy, and negligence claims, we find plaintiffs have waived their ability to appeal these claims,” the appellate court said.
Vaxxed Army Pilot Facing Separation From Military After Denied Promotion Over COVID Vaccine Mandate
A vaccinated Army pilot, who was reprimanded after his initial hesitation to receive the COVID-19 shot, is still being denied promotion and could be separated from the military in September.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brandon Budge in the 7th Infantry Division’s 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, who has served in the military for over 20 years, may be forced out of the Army for adverse actions in his file that prevented him from receiving promotions.
The brigade to which he belongs was formed in battle in January 1968 and first activated at Marble Mountain, Danang in the northernmost part of South Vietnam.
The unit uses the moniker “Raptors” and consists of approximately 2,500 soldiers, and is the largest Aviation Brigade in the Army. Budge is now asking the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to remove the adverse actions from his record so that he may receive his promotion and remain in the service.
Texas Wesleyan Still Requires COVID-19 Vaccine of Nursing Students
Texas Wesleyan University still appears to be requiring students in its nursing program to get COVID-19 vaccines, prompting criticism from a doctor and healthcare advocate.
Dr. Mary Bowden, a Houston, Texas physician, recently criticized the requirement in a post on X. She shared the image of an email from nurse anesthesia Professor Terri Kane, stating that the nursing program “requires all traditional vaccines,” including for the flu, MMR, Hepatitis, TB, and COVID-19. “There are NO exceptions ….” according to the email Bowden shared.
The College Fix reached out to Texas Wesleyan’s media relations office and Kane, the nursing program director, numerous times by email over the past two weeks, asking about the vaccine requirement and confirmation of the email that Bowden shared. Neither responded to the requests for comment.
Feds Respond to Virginia Lawmakers’ Privacy Concerns About Airports’ Facial Recognition Screening
Identification screening technology that launched during the pandemic to reduce airport check-in times has helped improve security and travelers’ experiences, but carries a privacy concern stemming from the capture and storage of passengers’ photos.
Virginia lawmakers, privacy advocates and others have questioned how images of citizens are used and stored, and how peoples’ rights are being protected. The Transportation Security Administration said in a Thursday announcement that the images captured on the airport screening technology known as Credential Authentication Technology (CAT-2) “are never stored” or “used for any other purpose than immediate identification.”
House Communication, Technology and Innovation Committee Chair Cliff Hayes, D-Chesapeake, said tools like CAT-2 are helpful, but safeguards are important to protect civil liberties and privacy as the technology advances. “Travelers deserve both speed and security when it comes to travel, but it’s not at the expense of their privacy,” Hayes told the Mercury.
CAT-2 was first tested at Ronald Reagan Washington Airport in August 2020. Since then, TSA said it has been using the cameras carefully in conjunction with the research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology standards.
Dozens of States Sue to Block the Sale of 23andMe Personal Genetic Data Without Customer Consent
Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia on Monday filed a lawsuit in bankruptcy court seeking to block the sale of personal genetic data by 23andMe without customer consent. The lawsuit comes as a biotechnology company seeks the court’s approval to buy the struggling firm.
Biological samples, DNA data, health-related traits and medical records are too sensitive to be sold without each person’s express, informed consent, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a news release about the lawsuit. Customers should have the right to control such deeply personal information and it cannot be sold like ordinary property, it said.
23andMe customers use saliva-based DNA testing kits to learn about their ancestry and find long-lost relatives. Founded in 2006, the company also conducted health research and drug development. But it struggled to find a profitable business model since going public in 2021. In March it laid off 40% of its staff and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Eastern District of Missouri, raising concerns about the safety of customer data.
JFK Customs Will Look a Little Different on Your Next Trip — Here’s What to Know
If you’re landing at JFK this summer and are able to breeze through customs like a VIP, don’t thank your lucky stars — thank your face. American Airlines and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have rolled out a new facial recognition system at JFK’s Terminal 8, making it the latest major airport to join the Enhanced Passenger Processing (EPP) club. The system is designed to speed up reentry for U.S. citizens by verifying identities in seconds, not minutes, all without so much as pulling out your passport.
Here’s how it works: A live image of your face is snapped and instantly matched to your passport photo stored in a government database. If it checks out, you’re cleared for reentry before you even reach a CBP officer. The whole thing is contactless, pre-enrollment-free, and very sci-fi, but in a “Jetsons meets JFK” kind of way.
Roughly 45% of travelers at Terminal 8 are U.S. citizens, QNS reports, and they’re the only ones currently eligible for the biometric shortcut. While it’s separate from Global Entry, EPP promises a similar time-saving benefit without the hassle of interviews or membership fees. American Airlines is the first (and so far, only) carrier at the airport to implement the system, but officials say it’s part of a larger shift toward contactless travel.
