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Florida, 20 Other States, Sue Federal Government Over Mask Mandate for Airline Travel
In Florida’s latest salvo against the Biden administration over COVID-19 restrictions, Attorney General Ashley Moody on Tuesday filed a lawsuit challenging requirements that people wear masks in airports and on planes, trains and buses.
Moody, joined by attorneys general from 20 other states, filed the lawsuit in federal court in Tampa. In part, it contends that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has overstepped its legal authority in requiring masks for travelers.
The lawsuit alleges, in part, that the CDC violated a law known as the Administrative Procedure Act. That includes arguing that the agency overstepped its legal authority and took “arbitrary and capricious” actions. The lawsuit said, for example, that the agency did not consider “lesser alternatives.”
Other states joining in the lawsuit are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
Municipal Workers Demand NYC End What They Call Double Standard and Lift Vaccine Mandate
Mayor Eric Adams is facing more backlash for his decision to lift the vaccine mandate for professional athletes and performers. City workers were out in force on Tuesday in Queens to rally for change, CBS2’s Jenna DeAngelis reported.
Those who gathered in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park said they feel there is a double standard and that the city should lift the vaccine mandate for them, so they can work and serve the city.
Many at the news conference called on the city to reinstate and compensate its workers who feel their livelihoods are being threatened due to their personal medical decisions in relation to the vaccine mandate.
Firefighters, paramedics, police officers, and transit and sanitation workers were among those standing in solidarity. They want Adams to level the playing field after he announced, last week, professional athletes and performers are exempt from the vaccine requirements.
Fauci: Americans Should Be Prepared for New COVID Restrictions
White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday warned about the potential for the reinstatement of COVID-19 restrictions in the U.S. In an interview on the BBC’s “Sunday Morning,” Fauci said U.S. residents “need to be prepared for the possibility” of restrictions being put back into place.
Presenter Sophie Raworth asked if a new infectious COVID-19 variant could lead to future lockdowns and mask mandates. “I don’t want to use the word ‘lockdowns.’ That has a charged element to it. But, I believe that we must keep our eye on the pattern of what we’re seeing with infections,” he said, noting that the U.S. is currently moving toward normalcy.
“Having said that, we need to be prepared for the possibility that we would have another variant that would come along,” Fauci noted. “And then, if things change and we do get a variant that does give us an uptick in cases and hospitalization, we should be prepared and flexible enough to pivot toward going back — at least temporarily — to a more rigid type of restrictions, such as requiring masks indoor.”
Lawmakers Have Introduced a Bill That Would Allow the U.S. Treasury to Create a Digital Dollar
Four U.S. lawmakers proposed a new bill Monday that would authorize the Treasury Department — rather than the Federal Reserve — to create and issue an electronic dollar.
The “Electronic Currency and Secure Hardware Act,” or ECASH Act, proposed by Democratic representatives Stephen Lynch (Massachusetts), Jesús Chuy Garcia (Illinois), Ayanna Pressley (Massachusetts) and Rashida Tlaib (Michigan), would allow for a digital dollar that preserves privacy and anonymous transaction.
According to the bill, the digital dollar would be token-based, and held on your card or phone. But because it wouldn’t be account-based, losing the card or phone that stores the tokens would mean you also lose your funds.
Ex-Court Staff Who Refused COVID Vaccines Sue to Get Jobs Back
More than two dozen former court employees are suing the New York State Unified Court System, seeking reinstatement of their jobs after their requests for a religious exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate were denied.
In the lawsuit filed March 21 in state Supreme Court in Albany, 28 ex-employees who worked in courts and administrative offices around the state argue that their applications seeking exemptions to the mandate did not differ substantially from those of employees whose requests were approved.
They also say the court system never explained why their requests were denied despite repeated requests for an explanation.
Here’s What the Trucker Convoy Plans to Protest in California
The trucker convoy that has spent the last three weeks in the Washington, DC, area has decided to head west, to California.
On Sunday night, during a livestream, one of the organizers of the “People’s Convoy” — Mike Landis — proposed that the group travel to the Golden state. Landis read off several bills — 10 — that he mentioned are up for a vote next week.
On their website, ThePeoplesConvoy.org, 10 bills are listed with the headline “10 CA Bills You Must Oppose.” On their website, they call these “universally dangerous” and would affect nearly every area of the lives of California’s residents. ”If passed, these bills will change everything for people who want to Live, Work or Learn in the State of CA while exercising their right to medical freedom,” the website reads.
The Military Wants AI to Replace Human Decision-Making in Battle
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) — the innovation arm of the U.S. military — is aiming to answer thorny questions by outsourcing the decision-making process to artificial intelligence. Through a new program, called In the Moment, it wants to develop technology that would make quick decisions in stressful situations using algorithms and data, arguing that removing human biases may save lives, according to details from the program’s launch this month.
Though the program is in its infancy, it comes as other countries try to update a centuries-old system of medical triage, and as the U.S. military increasingly leans on technology to limit human error in war. But the solution raises red flags among some experts and ethicists who wonder if AI should be involved when lives are at stake.
Twitter, Facebook, Google Have Repeatedly Censored Conservatives Despite Liberal Doubts
The debate around the possible injection of political bias into Big Tech company policies has persisted for years, as has the discussion on free speech, Silicon Valley’s constantly fluctuating and often vague content moderation policies, attempts to curb “misinformation,” and the rights of a company to operate its business how it sees fit versus the importance of public discourse in an increasingly virtual world.
A pattern has emerged of right-leaning voices being censored far more often than those on the left. Both Democrats and Republicans alike have pushed for steps to be taken to reign in the enormous power wielded by Big Tech companies. Disagreements remain on how such measures should be taken. Calls to repeal Section 230, break up the tech companies, or police their actions through the creation of a government advisory board have all cropped up.
Yet, critics have argued that government intervention could lead to censorship against political opponents and everyday Americans by the party in power. Digital strategist Bret Jacobson told Fox News Digital that concerns related to tech censorship should be addressed by consumers rather than “Draconian” and “unwise” government attempts to control what users see and hear.
Federal Pressure on Big Tech to Censor COVID ‘Misinformation’ Violates Constitution: Lawsuit
The public government campaign to pressure Big Tech platforms such as Twitter to crack down on supposed misinformation violates the U.S. Constitution, according to a new lawsuit.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has repeatedly pressed Twitter and other platforms to suppress COVID-19 misinformation, while White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said President Joe Biden thinks it’s the responsibility of social media companies to “stop amplifying untrustworthy content, disinformation, and misinformation, especially related to COVID-19, vaccinations, and elections.”
Scientist Mark Changizi, attorney Michael Senger, and stay-at-home father Daniel Kotzin want a federal court in Ohio to declare that the effort violated the First Amendment of the Constitution; that Murthy’s campaign against misinformation lacked statutory authorities; that a request by the government for Twitter and other companies to turn over information about “sources of misinformation” violates the Fourth Amendment since no warrant has been granted; and that Twitter and other companies are under no obligation to censor content and will not be penalized if they choose not to do so.
DOJ Endorses Antitrust Legislation Aimed at Big Tech
The Department of Justice sent letters to bipartisan lawmakers on the House and Senate Judiciary committees endorsing antitrust proposals that aim to block tech giants from giving preferential treatment to their own products.
It marks the Biden administration’s most direct endorsement of the American Online Innovation and Choice Act.
The legislation would block dominant online companies, determined by user base and revenue, from preferring their own goods or discriminating against rival products on their platforms. The definition would likely mean the bill would apply to Amazon, Apple, Meta and Google.
Web3 Promises to Put the Internet Into the Hands of the People. Don’t Believe the Hype.
Similar to “the internet” or “cryptocurrency” in their infancy, the term “Web3” has entered the public discourse before being widely understood. However, Web3 might be the haziest and most vague of the bunch.
Web3 promoters would say it’s a new version of the internet that is owned by users and builders and powered by tokens or crypto. Unlike Web2 —- the current web, which is dominated by centralized platforms, including Google, Apple, and Facebook — they claim Web3 will use blockchain, crypto and NFTs to take the power away from Big Tech and transfer it back to the internet community.
