Miss a day, miss a lot. Subscribe to The Defender's Top News of the Day. It's free.
Ivermectin Thrust Back Into Spotlight on Twitter After Elon Musk Takeover
Just hours after the news broke of billionaire Elon Musk‘s $44 billion purchase of Twitter, ivermectin, the anti-parasitic drug touted as a possible treatment for COVID-19, is once again trending on the social media platform.
Ivermectin was the sixth most popular topic on Twitter in the U.S. on Tuesday afternoon, with more than 46,000 tweets, suggesting that many users were under the impression that the term had been previously censored on the platform.
In fact, the name of the treatment has never been banned, although it has been just one of a number of popularly cited treatments for COVID-19 that has remained controversial throughout the global pandemic.
California’s Schools Don’t Need a Vaccine Mandate — at Least, Not Right Now
California schools are operating safely; children are less likely to develop serious cases of COVID-19; and the vaccine is still being given under emergency use authorization for kids 5 to 15, rather than under final approval, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers more data.
And there’s still debate about how effective vaccines are at stopping infections among children. A large, but not yet peer-reviewed, study conducted by the New York State Department of Health found that, in the lower dose given to children ages 5 to 11, protection from infection dropped from 68% to 12% within about a month. Still, CDC data show that the vaccine offers protection for those children against serious illness at a higher rate and for longer.
While this situation could change drastically with infection rates again increasing because of a new subvariant, state Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) made a sensible move earlier this month to hold off on his vaccine mandate bill. Gov. Gavin Newsom also postponed a requirement that students be immunized against COVID-19 before the start of the next school year.
Novak Djokovic Cleared to Defend Title at Wimbledon, COVID Vaccine Not Required to Compete
Novak Djokovic, the 2021 Wimbledon champion in men’s singles, will get the opportunity to defend his title in 2022.
The All-England Club announced on Tuesday that players competing at Wimbledon in late June do not need to be vaccinated, and unvaccinated players will not need to quarantine before competing.
Until the All-England Club’s announcement on Tuesday, it wasn’t certain that Djokovic, who is unvaccinated against COVID-19, would be able to compete at Wimbledon — especially in light of what happened at the Australian Open earlier this year.
Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Biden Administration From Ending Title 42 COVID Border Restrictions for Migrants
A federal judge in Louisiana temporarily blocked the Biden administration from ending a Trump-era pandemic restriction on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Biden administration had been on track to end the public health authority, known as Title 42, on May 23, a decision that has been criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike. The measure allows border authorities to turn migrants back to Mexico or their home countries because of the public health crisis.
Monday’s order from Judge Robert Summerhays is unlikely to change the situation on the ground, given that the public health authority remains in place, but it may throw a wrench in the administration’s plans moving forward.
Philadelphia Releases Updated Deadline for City Police Officers to Get COVID Vaccine, Request Exemption
On Monday, the City of Philadelphia announced the new timeline for the implementation of the workforce vaccine mandate. According to an arbitration panel governing the mandate for employees represented by the Fraternal Order of Police, this is the final update on the matter.
Under the new timeline, employees who do not provide proof of at least a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or a request for exemption by May 31 will be placed on Unvaccinated Leave beginning June 6.
Employees who are currently on leave must comply with the mandate by May 31. Unvaccinated employees will be required to follow additional protocols including, double-masking, wearing an N95 mask or submitting to routine COVID-19 testing.
Chicago Teachers Union Tells Labor Board CPS Violated COVID Safety Agreement
Officials with the Chicago Teachers Union argued Monday that the halting of the universal masking requirement at Chicago Public Schools last month violated their COVID-19 safety agreement by rescinding a key tenet of the plan without reopening collective bargaining.
The hearing before Nick Gutierrez, administrative law judge with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, was prompted by the union’s filing of an unfair labor practice charge shortly after CPS announced masks would be optional for staff, students and visitors to schools beginning March 14.
‘Live Callers and Door Knocks’: New York Official Suggests Door-to-Door Campaign to Get People Boosted
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine has called on officials to mount a door-knocking campaign to get New Yorkers to follow through on getting their booster shots for COVID-19.
Levine began by pointing out that the percentage of New York City residents who had gotten their booster shots already was not really increasing over time — and argued that a “citywide campaign to reach them” was the next logical step.
Noting that the city had access to personal information about anyone who had at least begun the vaccine process, Levine went on to argue that the proposed campaign could include anything from making appointments for people, calling them at home and even sending people out to knock on doors.
Most of Beijing to Be Tested for COVID Amid Lockdown Worry
Beijing will conduct mass testing of most of its 21 million people, authorities announced Monday, as a new COVID-19 outbreak sparked stockpiling of food by residents worried about the possibility of a Shanghai-style lockdown.
The Chinese capital began mass testing people in one of its 16 districts where most of the new cases have been found. The city also imposed lockdowns on individual residential buildings and one section of the city. Late in the day, health officials said the testing would be expanded Tuesday to all but five outlying districts.
While only 70 cases have been found since the outbreak surfaced Friday, authorities have rolled out strict measures under China’s “zero-COVID” approach to try to prevent a further spread of the virus.
With the Clock Running out, Humans Need to Rethink Time Itself
Just take a look around: The mega-droughts, wildfires and category-busting hurricanes we see today are the result of emissions past — a hauntological quirk of the carbon cycle. The acute stress of the COVID-19 pandemic slowed time for some, while for others things sped up — both natural responses, psychologists say, to the immense stress of lockdown.
News of the war in Ukraine, which once might have arrived in a morning paper or nightly program, is transmitted through our screens 24/7. And TikTok trends move at the speed of a micro-video, pulling fast fashion and even fast furniture along with it. Everywhere, the past, present and future appear to be collapsing into each other.
How Elon Musk Will Change Twitter, According to Those Close to Him
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter will improve the platform with his promises to increase transparency on decision making while still implementing some sort of moderation, according to an ally of the billionaire.
Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management, and an investor in Tesla and Twitter believes that Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter will ultimately benefit the company and its users, amid concerns about how the world’s richest man will oversee the social media site.
“This is really about control of a critically important asset for society,” Gerber said. “Twitter has become the mouthpiece for the news in real-time, all day every day. And the manipulation of social media was one of the most detrimental things that happened to society in the last five or seven years.”
Jack Dorsey in Line for $978 Million Payday From Elon Musk Twitter Takeover
Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter who stepped down as CEO last year, stands to pocket $978 million once Tesla CEO Elon Musk completes his $44 billion takeover of the social media platform.
Parag Agrawal, the current chief executive of the San Francisco-based tech giant, will go home with a $42 million payday as a result of the transaction, Reuters is reporting.
Twitter’s board of directors accepted Musk’s offer to buy the company at $54.20 per share.
Agrawal, the former chief technology officer who succeeded Dorsey as CEO late last year, would be due to receive a payout of $42 million while another Twitter executive, CFO Ned Segal, would go home with a $25.5 million pay package.
Musk’s Twitter Takeover May Boost Facebook, Google and Snap Ad Revenues
Elon Musk’s private takeover of Twitter may boost ad revenue for YouTube, Snap, Facebook parent Meta and TikTok, analysts from several Wall Street firms said in recent notes to investors.
Twitter, which announced it accepted Musk’s bid on Monday, has heavily relied on ad sales, which accounted for $1.41 billion, the lion’s share of its revenue, in the most recent quarter.
“With ~85% of Twitter’s revenue generated through brand advertising and as free speech is a priority for Mr. Musk, advertisers may shift budgets to other channels given brand safety concerns,” JMP analysts wrote. That could help YouTube, Snap, Meta and TikTok, the firm said.
