Miss a day, miss a lot. Subscribe to The Defender's Top News of the Day. It's free.
Novak Djokovic to Skip Two More Tournaments Over Vaccination Status
Novak Djokovic, the world’s top men’s tennis champion, will not compete in two upcoming U.S. tennis tournaments because he is unvaccinated, the same reason he was kept out of the Australian Open.
Djokovic had been waiting for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to possibly grant him an exception to travel to the United States despite being unvaccinated.
However, in a Wednesday afternoon tweet, Djokovic said that he won’t compete in The Indian Wells Masters tournament (also known as the BNP Paribas Open) held in California from March 7 to 20. He also said he will not compete in the Miami Open tournament held in Florida from March 21 to April 3.
It’s likely that Djokovic’s vaccination status will also prevent him from playing in the French Open in May and the French Monte Carlo Masters in April. He will also likely be barred from Spain’s Mutua Madrid Open in May due to the country’s vaccination requirements.
United Airlines Will Let Unvaccinated Employees Return to Their Jobs This Month
United Airlines, citing a steep decline in COVID-19 cases, told staff Thursday that it will allow unvaccinated workers to return to their jobs starting March 28, a shift from a company that had one of the country’s strictest inoculation mandates. Last August, United said it would require U.S. employees to be vaccinated against COVID or face termination.
In January, CEO Scott Kirby said the company didn’t have any COVID deaths among unvaccinated workers over the past eight weeks, despite a surge in cases of the Omicron variant, which has since subsided.
United had said the roughly 2,200 workers who received exemptions on medical or religious grounds would go on unpaid leave or be moved to non-customer-facing roles. For example, unvaccinated flight attendants couldn’t work their regular jobs. Roughly 200 employees were fired for not being vaccinated or having an accommodation.
Spotify Says Joe Rogan Not to Blame as It Loses 1.5 Million Subscribers
Streaming giant Spotify is bracing for a loss of about 1.5 million paying subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, and it said that Joe Rogan isn’t to blame.
Rogan has faced a backlash over the past several weeks amid accusations of spreading COVID vaccine misinformation on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Several musicians also pulled their work from Spotify, protesting the platform’s decision to stand by him.
While the embattled comedian had faced what appeared to be a tide of detractors vowing to pull their Spotify subscriptions, the company revealed that its decision to suspend its premium service in Russia, amid its invasion of Ukraine, has had more of an impact.
Big Bureaucracy Fumbled COVID and Our Faith in Institutions
From locking us all down to frequently providing conflicting information and lying that the “science” had “changed,” our health agencies were a complete disaster.
Again and again, they pushed failed mitigation policies that had actual harm on Americans. The leaders at the agencies, Dr. Rochelle Walensky at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes of Health either straight-out bungled any task or comment or simply lied to us. This isn’t about the fog of the pandemic, the spring of 2020, this is to the present day.
As late as November 2021, Walensky was alleging that masking was at least 80% effective in stopping all viruses! That would be miraculous if true. It is not true. There has not been a single study that showed masking to be an effective way of stopping COVID-19, let alone the common cold.
And yet, right now, in New York City, toddlers are masked because of the broken and unscientific policies pushed by these organizations.
U.S. Extends Airplane Mask Mandate Through April 18
The Transportation Security Administration is extending a federal requirement that travelers wear masks on airplanes, at airports and on trains and buses through April 18, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
The mandate was set to expire on March 19. An extension of the mandate comes as the Biden administration, cities and states have rolled back mask mandates and other pandemic policies elsewhere as COVID cases drop.
The Biden administration ordered air, bus and rail travelers to wear masks, including at airports and train stations, shortly after the president took office in 2021. The government repeatedly extended it over the past year.
Sen. Cruz Rides With ‘People’s Convoy’ Truck to DC As Beltway Protest Enters Fourth Day
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) visited the “People’s Convoy” at the Hagerstown Speedway on Thursday and rode shotgun in the lead truck, with plans for the vehicle to head into Washington for a news conference, while the rest of the convoy circles the Capital Beltway to protest pandemic health restrictions aimed to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Though many pandemic-related restrictions at the federal and local levels have been blocked or rescinded, the convoy organizers have rallied supporters by calling mandates an infringement on their freedoms.
Brian Brase, the group’s organizer, said the convoy will continue to protest until mandates for health workers, federal employees and military personnel are eliminated, but he warned the convoy against heading into the capital.
COVID Vaccine Verification Requirements to Be Lifted in More States, Cities
With COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths falling around the U.S., more cities and states have moved to lift pandemic restrictions this week.
On Wednesday, officials in Los Angeles took steps to end requirements patrons to show proof of full vaccination at certain businesses. It also eliminates proof of vacation requirements for large outdoor events.
Traveling up California’s Highway 1, San Francisco will stop requiring proof of vaccination to enter indoor businesses starting on Friday. The San Francisco Department of Public Health said it will be up to businesses to choose whether to require proof of vaccination or a negative test from their staff and customers.
Mississippi Advances Bill Against COVID Vaccine Mandates
Anyone in Mississippi could cite “a sincerely held religious objection” to avoid a public or private employer’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate, under a bill that advanced Wednesday at the state Capitol.
The bill says Mississippi government entities could not withhold services or refuse jobs to people who choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. That prohibition includes state agencies, city and county governments and schools, community colleges and universities.
The bill specifies that COVID-19 vaccinations could not be required for children to attend school or daycare, although Mississippi has some of the tightest requirements in the nation for other types of childhood vaccinations.
Chicago Public Schools’ COVID Vaccine Mandate Challenged in Court by Employees
Chicago Tribune via MSN reported:
A small group of Chicago Public Schools employees is asking a judge to stop the district from enforcing its policy requiring staff members to receive the COVID-19 vaccination or undergo weekly testing.
“The Plaintiffs are suffering continuing harm in that each is being subjected to an unlawful vaccination or testing policy without being provided their statutorily protected rights of due process of law,” read the paperwork downstate attorney Tom DeVore submitted Thursday to Sangamon County court.
According to the filing, two of DeVore’s six CPS clients were told to submit proof of vaccination or test by Friday or risk being placed on a non-disciplinary administrative leave of absence without pay starting Monday.
Thursday’s filing is the latest in DeVore’s fight with CPS over policies such as universal masking and quarantine for unvaccinated people who come in close contact with a person infected with COVID-19.
Seattle Schools Will Drop COVID Mask Mandate
Seattle Public Schools says it will lift its COVID-19 mask mandate beginning Monday.
Late last month Gov. Jay Inslee said the statewide mask requirement for schools would lift on March 12 as cases and hospitalizations have been declining following a surge during caused by the Omicron variant. Inslee had said going forward decisions about masking would be left to local districts.
NC Governor’s Veto of School Mask Mandate Opt-Out is Upheld
The North Carolina legislature failed on Wednesday to override another of Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes, this one on a bill that would have allowed K-12 students to opt-out of COVID-19 mask-wearing mandates, even as those schools with such directives have become few.
The Senate’s 27-22 vote fell short of the three-fifths majority required to overcome Cooper’s most recent veto. The result means the Democratic governor’s streak of upheld vetoes — stretching from early 2019 — continues.
The legislation would have given children, with their parents’ permission, the option not to wear a mask in school districts that have ordered students and staff to wear face coverings. Mask mandates have been issued to control the spread of the coronavirus.
Red Rocks Amphitheater Will No Longer Use Amazon’s Palm-Scanning Tech
Red Rocks Amphitheater, one of the most recognizable concert venues in the U.S., no longer plans to use Amazon’s palm-scanning technology for ticketless entry. Activists and artists including Fight for the Future, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine) and Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill) pressured Denver Arts and Venues to refrain from using Amazon One at the venues it manages.
Amazon announced in September that it was expanding the tech beyond its stores for the first time at Red Rocks and other venues, including sports stadiums. Hundreds of artists, activists and human rights groups called on Red Rocks, its ticketing provider AXS and AXS parent AEG to drop the technology and to ban all biometric surveillance at their venues.
“Other venues should similarly listen to the hundreds of artists, organizations and fans who don’t see this technology as ‘convenient’ but recognize it as a tool of corporate surveillance and super-charged state violence,” said Fight for the Future campaigner Leila Nashashibi.
It Took a War for Big Tech to Take a Side
The internet is global. But tech companies do business in individual countries. So tech companies have to obey those countries’ rules, even if they’re onerous or worse.
That’s the rubric that Big Tech companies — almost all of which are based in the United States — have used for years, even when it’s been uncomfortable for the companies, their employees, or their customers.
Now that’s over: Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Big Tech has finally taken a side. It’s a move that has real-world consequences today but may be even more meaningful down the line.
One by one, Google, Meta, TikTok, and every other consumer tech company have sided with Ukraine in some way.
Tech’s Dealmaking Cry: Damn the Lawsuits, Full Speed Ahead
Google is plowing ahead with a $5.4 billion acquisition as it fends off a Justice Department lawsuit charging monopolistic practices and inquiries by lawmakers who argue the search giant is already too big.
An increasingly hostile regulatory climate over the past five years hasn’t stopped Big Tech giants from making billion-dollar deals. Google’s bid to buy cybersecurity firm Mandiant is the latest in a string of high-dollar acquisitions by Big Tech.
Google is already facing a lawsuit from the Justice Department accusing it of illegally monopolizing the online search and search advertising markets.
