Miss a day, miss a lot. Subscribe to The Defender's Top News of the Day. It's free.
Navy Should Be Held in Contempt for Violating Court Order on COVID Vaccine Exemptions: Complaint
The U.S. Navy is violating a court order by allegedly blocking treatment for a traumatic brain injury and inflicting other forms of punishment on SEALs who requested religious exemptions to the coronavirus vaccine, according to a new legal complaint.
On Jan. 3, a federal court in Texas granted a temporary injunction against the Navy’s vaccine mandate after multiple SEALs sued President Biden. Judge Reed O’Connor, in issuing the order, argued that “[t]here is no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment” and “[t]here is no military exclusion from our Constitution.”
But First Liberty, a religious liberty law firm, alleges in Monday’s filing that multiple SEALs continue to encounter a variety of roadblocks due to their unvaccinated status.
New Orleans Mayor, Health Department Sued Over COVID Vaccine Mandates
More than 100 plaintiffs who live and work in the New Orleans area are suing Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the city’s health department over its COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates.
The city last month announced that by Feb. 1, all individuals ages 5 and older would have to show proof of at least two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine or a negative PCR or antigen test to enter certain businesses, though a vaccine mandate went into effect for adults on Jan. 3. Additionally, all individuals 2 years old and older must wear masks indoors.
The complaint filed by Rodrigue & Arcuri and attorney Jimmy Faircloth of Faircloth, Melton, Sobel & Bash LLC, on behalf of more than 100 plaintiffs — and counting — accuses the mayor and the health department, including New Orleans Health Director Jennifer Avengno, of causing “social, economic and cultural harm” through ‘authoritarian actions under the pretext of an emergency without end.”
Mandate to Vaccinate New Orleans Schoolchildren Kicking In
As school systems across the U.S. struggle to keep classrooms open amid the pandemic, New Orleans is set to become the nation’s first major district to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for children 5 and up, though state regulations will allow parents to opt-out easily.
Ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, many schools in the city have been holding vaccination events, including one at KIPP Believe school. One by one, dozens of children presented their signed permission slips, pushed up the sleeves of their pale yellow school uniform shirts and — often wincing, but rarely with tears — received a shot. Then they got candy.
Waivers for those opposed to vaccination are easy to obtain under state regulations, and schools will work with students who aren’t inoculated, he said. But eventually everyone will have to be vaccinated or have a waiver.
Austin to Governors: Guard Troops Must Get COVID Vaccine
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in letters to seven governors, is reaffirming the need for members of their states’ Army and Air National Guards to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine or lose their Guard status.
The letters, which have not been publicly released, come as the military services begin to ramp up the number of active-duty troops being discharged for refusing the vaccine. Nearly 600 Marines, airmen and sailors have been thrown out of the military or dismissed from entry-level training at boot camps as of last week.
Two of the letters — to Alaska and Texas state leaders — note that they have an ongoing lawsuit over the vaccine and that, Austin said, limited his abililty to comment further on their concerns. Texas, Oklahoma and Alaska filed lawsuits challenging the military’s vaccine mandate, but a federal judge has already rejected the Oklahoma challenge.
Joe Rogan Pushes Back on Spotify, Citing Newsweek Coverage of Wuhan Lab
Joe Rogan responded to claims that his Spotify podcast promoted COVID-19 misinformation by saying that theories change over time. As an example of how something that was considered misinformation “a short while ago is now accepted as fact,” he cited Newsweek’s coverage of the theory that the coronavirus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China.
On April 23, 2020, Newsweek published an article reporting that the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency updated its assessment of the origin of COVID to reflect that it may have been accidentally released from an infectious diseases lab.
There were several articles published during that period by Newsweek on the theory, including one from May 2020 reporting on a study that argued scientists should not rule out the possibility that the virus was made in a laboratory.
Elites Are Smearing Truckers Because We’re Doing Their Job Representing the People
Forty-eight hours after an impromptu rave party erupted at the biggest truckers’ protest the world has ever seen, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed me and my fellow Road Warriors from a secret location he had been spirited away to, out of a fear that our peaceful protest against vaccine mandates would turn into Canada’s Jan. 6.
Like the hysteria that preceded Trudeau’s flight, his comments were pure propaganda; Ottawa Police reported no incidents and not a single arrest — at a protest topping 100,000 souls; indeed, the mood was absolutely festive. The peaceful protest included flags and signs in both of Canada’s official languages and with more than a few four-letter words.
Two Virginia Universities No Longer Requiring COVID Vaccinations After AG’s Legal Opinion
George Mason and Virginia Tech universities will no longer mandate COVID-19 vaccinations following a legal opinion last week from the state’s attorney general.
The announcements from the universities followed a legal opinion from Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R), saying public colleges and universities in the state cannot require the vaccine.
The Mainstream Media Is Attacking Joe Rogan Instead of Admitting Its Own Failures
Podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan is back in the media’s crosshairs. A few days ago, rock legend Neil Young issued an ultimatum to Spotify: The music platform could carry his music or they could carry The Joe Rogan Experience podcast but not both.
Mainstream media pundits claim that Rogan has spread falsehoods about the COVID-19 vaccine by having prominent vaccine skeptics such as Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Peter McCullough on his podcast. They conveniently ignore the fact that Rogan has platformed a range of perspectives on the COVID vaccine; for example, he had vaccine enthusiast Sanjay Gupta on as well.
Indeed, the move to smear Rogan for peddling “misinformation” is less about the truth than it is about a deeply unpopular mainstream media elite refusing to acknowledge its own failures, and how it lost its credibility with the American people.
South Africa Says People Who Test Positive for COVID but Have No Symptoms No Longer Need to Isolate
People who test positive for COVID-19 in South Africa but have no symptoms will no longer have to self-isolate, the government announced Monday. The change came after daily COVID-19 cases dropped in the country, one of the first to see a surge in cases driven by the Omicron variant late last year.
Isolation periods were also cut for people who do have symptoms after testing positives, from 10 days to 7, per the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa. The new rules also end compulsory isolation for contacts of those who test positive.
The president’s office said 60% to 80% of people had anti-coronavirus antibodies when tested, a level it said had “risen substantially.” The immunity appears mainly driven by people getting sick. Only 27% of the population received two doses of a vaccine, compared to 63% in the U.S. and 73% in the UK, per Our World in Data.
Austria’s COVID Vaccine Law Comes Into Force Amid Resistance
A new law comes into force in Austria this week that makes vaccination against COVID-19 compulsory for anyone over 18. Several countries have introduced mandates for the elderly or medical staff, but this is the first nation in Europe to adopt such sweeping measures.
LOu Moser, a ceramic artist who lives south of Vienna, is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and neither is her husband, Gus. They strongly disagree with Austria’s new vaccine mandate.
Vaccination, she says, should be a personal choice. “I’ve had COVID-19. And so I actually don’t see the point of being jabbed when I’ve got sufficient antibodies,” LOu tells me.
Karoline Edtstadler, minister for the EU and Constitution, says the government is “very aware that it is really a strong step and really hard measure.” But, she says, it is necessary. The vaccine mandate, she says, will expire in January 2024, and could be ended earlier if the pandemic allows. The law comes into force on Feb. 3, but the authorities will not start checking people’s vaccination status until mid-March.
The Unnerving Rise of Video Games that Spy on You
Tech conglomerate Tencent caused a stir last year with the announcement that it would comply with China’s directive to incorporate facial recognition technology into its games in the country.
The state’s use of biometric data to police its population is, of course, invasive, and especially undermines the privacy of underage users — but Tencent is not the only video game company to track its players, nor is this recent case an altogether new phenomenon.
All over the world, video games, one of the most widely adopted digital media forms, are installing networks of surveillance and control.
NSO Offered ‘Bags of Cash’ for Access to U.S. Cell Networks, Whistleblower Claims
The surveillance company NSO Group offered to give representatives of an American mobile-security firm “bags of cash” in exchange for access to global cellular networks, according to a whistleblower who has described the encounter in confidential disclosures to the Justice Department that have been reviewed by The Washington Post.
Surveillance companies try to access cellular communication networks to geolocate targets and provide other spying services. Cellular companies seek to prevent such intrusions by restricting access to the SS7 network and using firewalls to block computer queries that seek personal information on their customers.
