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Up to 2,000 Delta and 1,000 United Passengers Banned for COVID Mask-Wearing Violations Will Be Allowed to Fly With the Airlines Again
Up to 2,000 Delta and 1,000 United passengers who were banned for COVID-19 mask-wearing violations will be permitted to fly with the airlines again. The carriers said Wednesday that these passengers would be removed from their respective no-fly lists on a case-by-case basis.
Delta and United, along with other major U.S. airlines, dropped their mask-wearing requirements on Monday soon after a judge struck down the federal mask mandate. The Department of Justice said Wednesday it would appeal the ruling.
Both airlines warned that banned passengers would need to commit to complying with flight safety rules before being allowed to travel with them again.
Anti-Vaccine Ideology Gains Ground as Lawmakers Seek to Erode Rules for Kids’ Shots
Not long ago, Kansas showed strong bipartisan support for vaccines as a tool to support a robust public health system. But bills with language expanding religious exemptions for childhood vaccine requirements were passed by the state Senate in March and now face the House when the legislature reconvenes on April 25.
They are among the more than 520 vaccine-related bills introduced in statehouses nationwide since Jan. 1, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Of those bills, 66 specifically relate to childhood vaccine requirements in 25 states.
Fewer than 10% of the bills will likely gain any traction, but the volume of attempts to roll back vaccine requirements is alarming, said Rekha Lakshmanan, director of advocacy and public policy at the Immunization Partnership, a vaccine education organization.
All states require specific childhood vaccinations for illnesses such as polio, measles and mumps, but exemptions vary. They all allow exemptions for people with medical concerns, 44 states allow religious exemptions, and 15 allow philosophical exemptions, according to 2021 data from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Fauci Says End of Plane Mask Mandate ‘Unfortunate,’ Judge ‘Superseded’ CDC
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the White House, has criticized a recent Florida court order that overturned the requirement to wear face masks on public transportation.
U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle on Monday ruled that the face mask mandate for travelers, which had been extended from April 18 to May 3 by the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) earlier this month, was unlawful.
Following her ruling, major U.S. airlines including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines relaxed their face mask rules on domestic flights and some international ones.
Fauci, an infectious diseases expert, expressed disappointment later in the week that the rules were allowed to be relaxed after the mandate and its extension was overruled. He added: “I think it’s unfortunate that a court order came in and, I believe, superseded the authority of the CDC.”
Justice Department Will Appeal Ruling Striking Down Travel Mask Mandate
Officials said that the Department of Justice is filing an appeal aiming to overturn a federal judge’s ruling that struck down the federal mask mandate on public transportation.
A notice of appeal was filed Wednesday in federal court in Tampa, Florida. That came just minutes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asked the Justice Department to appeal the decision.
The agency said Wednesday that it is the “CDC’s continuing assessment that at this time an order requiring masking in the indoor transportation corridor remains necessary for the public health.” It remained unclear whether the Biden administration would ask the appeals court to grant an emergency stay to reimpose the mandate.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Slams Biden Administration Over Appealing to Reimpose Mask Mandate on Planes: ‘Totally Outrageous’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the Biden administration on Thursday over its plans to appeal a judge’s ruling that struck down mask mandates on airplanes and other public transit.
“There should be no mandates, period. None,” DeSantis said at an event in Destin, Florida.
Florida was among several states that sued the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over its mask mandate on public transit.
“It will be totally outrageous if they appeal this decision,” he said. “Part of the reason they are doing it is because they like to exercise power over the people they govern.”
United CEO Says It’s ‘Very Unlikely’ Travel Mask Mandate Will Return
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Thursday said it is “very unlikely” that the Biden administration’s mask mandate for airplanes will return.
On Thursday, Kirby told NBC News in an interview that the United States was “on the road, I think, to removing the mask [mandate] even before the judge’s ruling.”
The Justice Department’s appeal “is mostly about jurisdiction,” he said, adding: “I think it’s very unlikely that a mask requirement is going to come back any time in the foreseeable future.”
United Airlines on Monday initially said it would keep enforcing the mask mandate until it received more clarity on the judge’s ruling. Later that day, however, the airline said it would no longer enforce the mandate for domestic flights.
Workers Could Sue Over Vaccine Mandates Under Missouri Bill
Workers required to get vaccinations for their jobs could sue if they have negative reactions under a Missouri bill advanced in the state House on Wednesday. The Republican-led House voted 92-44 to give the measure initial approval. It needs another vote to move to the GOP-led Senate.
The measure would apply to any employer-required vaccines, although bill sponsor Rep. Mitch Boggs, R-LaRussell, cited recent COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Under the measure, employers who make their workers get a vaccine could be held liable if workers experience negative side effects.
Proponents argued that bosses should be held accountable for medical complications if they make workers get vaccinated. Critics argued that private business owners should be allowed to decide whether to mandate vaccinations without the threat of lawsuits.
Chelsea Green Publishing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren Lay out Cases in COVID Book Lawsuit
Attorneys quarreled on Wednesday over whether a 1963 Supreme Court case involving Rhode Island booksellers had any relevance to a White River Junction book publisher’s lawsuit against U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
The hearing in Washington Western District Court in Seattle was the first in Chelsea Green Publishing’s lawsuit against the senator, alleging she violated the First Amendment by stifling free speech when she wrote a public letter to Amazon condemning the bookseller’s sale of the Chelsea Green book, The Truth About COVID-19.
The plaintiffs include Chelsea Green; Joseph Mercola, the book’s author; co-author Ronald Cummins; and anti-vaccine figurehead Robert Kennedy Jr., who wrote a forward for the book.
They are seeking unspecified damages in the wake of Warren’s September 2021 letter, which they say caused Barnes & Noble to stop selling the book, among other effects.
Illinois Appellate Court Reinstates CPS Requirement That Employees Must Show Proof of COVID Vaccination or Test Weekly
An Illinois appellate court on Wednesday sided with Chicago Public Schools in vacating a temporary restraining order that prevented the district from taking employment action against six CPS teachers for refusing to submit proof of vaccination or undergo weekly tests for COVID-19.
The ruling restores the district’s ability to enforce the requirement while a lawsuit challenging the practice continues in a downstate courtroom.
U.S. Extends COVID Vaccine Requirements for Non-Citizens at Land Borders
The Biden administration on Thursday said it was extending a requirement that non-U.S. citizens crossing land or ferry terminals at the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders must be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Unlike international air travelers headed to the United States, people traveling at land or ferry crossings do not need to provide a negative COVID-19 test.
Foreign air travelers must present proof of vaccination to airlines before traveling to the United States as well as a negative COVID-19 test taken within one day. Foreign nationals crossing U.S. land border crossings must be prepared to provide proof of vaccination.
Joe Rogan Slams Current Liberals Who Now ‘Want Censorship,’ ‘People That Are Intolerant to Other People’s Ideas’ and More
Joe Rogan said that what it means to be a liberal has changed, arguing that the term had come to be all about “people that want censorship,” “people that are intolerant of other people’s ideas,” and more.
During “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast on Tuesday, Rogan spoke to his guest MMA fighter Jake Shields, and Rogan definitely sounded like he was unsure exactly what group he belonged in anymore because he said he had identified his whole life as a liberal. He explained that being liberal now means thinking it’s “fine to insult people and to be like really aggressive” to them.
“My parents were hippies,” Rogan explained. “It’s like there’s a difference between what liberal meant then and what it includes now. It includes now people that want military action. It includes now people that want censorship.”
Elon Musk Says He’s Secured $46.5 Billion in Financing to Buy Twitter
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a filing Thursday he has secured $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter — mostly with borrowed money.
The filing shows a group of banks led by Morgan Stanley is prepared to lend Musk $25.5 billion, including a separate $12.5 billion loan pledged to the value of Musk’s Tesla shares.
Musk in turn would provide $21 billion in equity financing.
He is currently Twitter’s largest individual shareholder, owning a 9 percent stake in the company. After Musk made an offer this month to purchase Twitter for $43 billion, the social media company adopted a “poison pill” provision designed to prevent him from completing a hostile takeover of the company.
Google to Update Cookie Consent Banner in Europe Following Fine
Google has shared a screenshot of its new cookie consent popup. At first, the new popup will be available on YouTube in France. But the company says it plans to roll out the new design across Google services in Europe.
This updated design comes a few months after the CNIL, France’s data watchdog, fined Google €150 million ($163 million at today’s exchange rate) for breaching French law.
According to the French authority, Google failed to comply with current regulations when it comes to presenting tracking choices to users — what people usually call the “cookie banner” or “cookie popup.”
With the new design, there are now three buttons. In addition to the existing buttons, there’s a new “Deny All” button that lets you opt-out of tracking altogether in a single click. The two main buttons are the same color, size and shape.
