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Only 43 of More Than 8,000 Discharged From U.S. Military for Refusing COVID Vaccine Have Rejoined
Only 43 of the more than 8,000 U.S. service members who were discharged from the military for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 have sought to rejoin eight months after the vaccine mandate was officially repealed, according to data provided by the military branches.
Many Republicans argued that the vaccine mandate hurt military recruiting and retention efforts, which was part of the rationale for forcing the Defense Department to cancel the vaccine requirement. The military mandated the vaccine for only 15 months from August 2021 through January 2023, when it was rescinded by law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. It marked perhaps the first time in U.S. military history that a vaccine requirement was reversed.
But since the repeal, only 19 soldiers have rejoined the Army, while 12 have returned to the Marines, according to service spokespeople. The numbers are even smaller for the Air Force and Navy, where only one and two have rejoined, respectively, the services said.
Pretty Soon, Your VR Headset Will Know Exactly What Your Bedroom Looks Like
Imagine a universe where Meta, and every third-party application it does business with, knows the placement and size of your furniture, whether you have a wheelchair or crib in your living room or the precise layout of your bedroom or bathroom. Analyzing this environment could reveal all sorts of things. Furnishings could indicate whether you are rich or poor, and artwork could give away your religion. A captured marijuana plant might suggest an interest in recreational drugs.
When critics suggest that the metaverse is a giant data grab, they often focus on the risks of sophisticated sensors that track and analyze body-based data. Far less attention has focused on how our new “mixed reality” future — prominently hyped at last week’s Meta Connect conference — may bring us closer to a “total surveillance state.”
The risks of this spatial information have not received as much attention as they deserve. Part of this is because few people understand this technology, and even if they do, it does not seem as scary as tech that is developed to monitor our eyes or surreptitiously record someone at a distance. Concepts like “point clouds,” “scene models,” “geometric meshes,” and “depth data” can be explained away as technical jargon. But allowing wearables to understand their surroundings and report back that information is a big deal.
We should anticipate that companies, governments, and bad actors will find ways to use this information to harm people. We have already seen how location data can be used by bounty hunters to harass people, target women seeking reproductive healthcare, and do an end-run around the Fourth Amendment. Now imagine a spatial data positioning system that is far more precise, down to the centimeter. Whether wearing a headset or interacting with AR holograms on a phone, the real-time location and real-world behaviors and interests of people can be monitored to a degree not currently imaginable.
California Misinfo Law Is Dead — Repeal Bill Also Strengthens Consumer Protections and Raises Doctors’ License Fees
With little fanfare, California Governor Gavin Newsom late last week signed into law a bill that repealed its controversial doctor misinformation statute just a year after it was signed.
Critics, including several physician plaintiffs who had sued the state, argued that it went against the constitutionally guaranteed right to free speech, and a judge had granted a restraining order on its implementation.
The original intent of the bill was an effort to give the Medical Board of California specific language that granted them the power to discipline providers who were found to have conveyed misinformation about COVID vaccines and treatments, including statements they might make on social media or in other public forums such as public protests.
Meet the Four Men Being Held as Political Prisoners in Canada
The Freedom Convoy erupted in January of 2022 after tens of thousands of Canadians, sick of Trudeau’s authoritarian approach to COVID-19, took to the streets of Ottawa in a mass act of civil protest led by truck drivers. For this, the Trudeau administration labeled them as racists and fascists — and then invoked the Emergency Measures Act for the first time in Canada’s history, suspending the civil liberties of Canada’s citizenry.
“Freedom of expression, assembly and association are cornerstones of democracy, but Nazi symbolism, racist imagery and desecration of war memorials are not,” Trudeau infamously said of the largest peaceful protest in Canada’s history, before accusing a Jewish Member of Parliament of “standing with those who wave Nazi flags” for her support of the protest.
Trudeau appeared to be referencing a single swastika flag in a protest of over 10,000 souls — the masked waver of which was never identified. The Canadian government also became convinced that a veteran named Jeremy MacKenzie was using the Freedom Convoy to lead a violent overthrow of the Trudeau government. After the Convoy, MacKenzie was charged with assault, pointing a firearm, using a restricted weapon in a careless manner, and mischief. Yet none of the charges against him were related to the Convoy, and most have since been dropped.
Four men caught in the government’s dragnet have not been as lucky. In February 2022, Anthony Olienick, Chris Carbert, Christopher Lysak, and Jerry Morin were arrested in separate locations throughout Alberta on allegations that they had conspired to murder Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers in Coutts, Alberta, a second protest site, as part of MacKenzie’s group. And though three of the men had no criminal records, they were all denied bail and have been languishing in prison for nearly 600 days. (Crown Prosecutor Steven Johnston declined a request via email for an interview. The RCMP did not reply to a request for comment.)
Up to 200,000 People to Be Monitored for COVID This Winter to Track Infection Rates
Up to 200,000 people will be monitored for COVID-19 this winter in a scaled-down version of the three-year infection survey for the virus.
The new study will run from November 2023 to March 2024, with as many as 32,000 lateral flow tests being used every week.
Scientists will be able to identify any changes in the rate of people infected with COVID-19 being admitted to hospital and assess the potential for increased demand on the NHS.
It is being co-ordinated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
Britain’s COVID Response Inquiry Enters Second Phase With Political Decisions in the Spotlight
Britain’s inquiry into the response to the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the nation entered its second phase Tuesday, with political decision-making around major developments, such as the timing of lockdowns, set to take center stage.
Much criticism preceded the start of the so-called Module 2, the second of four planned phases of the inquiry, as it was set to hear in person only from one bereaved family member. Representatives of the bereaved have said that the lack of more live testimonies is “deeply concerning.”
This stage of the inquiry will focus on the British government’s actions during the crisis between Jan. 2020, when it first became evident that the virus was spreading around the world, and June 2022, when the inquiry was set up. The first phase, which concluded in July, looked at the country’s preparedness for the pandemic.
Tech Giants Slam ‘Draconian’ New Sri Lanka Online Safety Bill
Just a few days after politicians in the U.K. signed off on the highly-debated Online Safety Bill, a homonymous proposed law is now sparking discussions over five thousand miles away.
Despite coming as a means to halt online harm and fake news, tech giants have deemed the new Sri Lanka Online Safety Bill as a “draconian system to stifle dissent.” Other experts have been warning of new executive powers and vague provisions too, which are thought to ultimately lead to increased online censorship, and free speech and privacy abuses.
Sri Lanka Online Safety Bill aims to create a legal framework to reduce online harm (especially for children) by halting the spread of harmful content and fake news online.
Among the concerns surrounding the bill, there are vague definitions of harmful content which could lead to censorship of legitimate material combined with a lack of safeguards for citizens’ freedom of expression.
