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Who Pays $24 Million to Protect Mark Zuckerberg?

Bloomberg reported:

Shareholders do. And that’s just one example of how COVID-19 hasn’t stopped the corporate-perk parade …

The bigger boon to the security industry … were Facebook executives Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, whose safety cost the company $24 million and $7.6 million in 2020, respectively. The company said that the expenses were elevated in 2020 due to “costs relating to security protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic, increased security coverage during the 2020 U.S. elections and market increases in the cost of security personnel.”

A spokesman for Facebook added that “Mr. Zuckerberg is one of the most-recognized executives in the world in large part as a result of the size of our user base and our continued exposure to global media, legislative and regulatory attention.”

Physicians, Surgeons Call on Universities to Reverse COVID Vaccine Mandates

The Defender reported:

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is calling on U.S. colleges and universities to allow students to attend in-person classes without requiring them to be vaccinated for COVID.

In an open letter, AAPS listed 15 reasons universities should reconsider vaccine mandates.

“Although, at first glance, the policy may seem prudent, it coerces students into bearing unneeded and unknown risk and is at heart contrary to the bedrock medical principle of informed consent,” the letter stated.

According to its website, AAPS is a non-partisan professional association of physicians in all types of practices and specialties across the country. The organization was founded in 1943 to preserve “the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship and the practice of private medicine.”

TSA Extends Mask Mandate Aboard Flights Through Summer as Travel Increases

NPR reported:

Wearing a face mask will continue to be a requirement at airports, aboard commercial flights and on other public transportation across the country through the summer.

The federal mask mandate, which was set to expire on May 11, will remain in effect through Sept. 13, according to updated guidance issued by the Transportation Security Administration on Friday.

The rule, which also applies to buses and rail systems, was first put in place by President Biden shortly after he took office in January.

A Tech Company Tried to Limit What Employees Talk About at Work. It Didn’t Go Well.

The Wall Street Journal reported:

When leaders of the project management and communication software company Basecamp announced last week that it would curb political conversations at work, fallout came fast.

Tech employees, workplace consultants and politicians alike assailed the decision on Twitter and LinkedIn, though other company leaders called it a courageous move. Some employees publicly threatened to quit. Ultimately, the Chicago-based company offered buyouts to its staff of about 50. A significant number of employees decided to leave.

Some Schools Skip Student Quarantines

The Washington Post reported:

“We have had students who had to quarantine three times,” said Miller, of Lakota Local Schools, among Ohio’s larger school systems with 17,000 students.

But that has changed. In the continuing struggle to strike a balance between safety and classroom learning, Ohio joined a handful of states that have now remade their rules to cut back on student quarantines. Many point to lower than expected spread of the virus inside schools and note that school leaders say there are few infections among students who get quarantined.

In Ohio’s case, quarantines are no longer required for potential classroom exposures as long as students were masked and other safeguards were in place.

China’s Big Brother ‘Social Credit System’ Now Tracks People in North America Too With Video Surveillance

CBN News reported:

China is covertly conducting surveillance and even tracking people’s movements in North America using what’s called “a social credit system,” trying to advance its totalitarian authority all over the world even in free nations.

The Gatestone Institute, a non-partisan, not-for-profit international policy council, and think tank, reports seven years ago, China’s State Council issued guidelines for the establishment of a national “social credit system” by 2020, with the feeds from about 626 million surveillance cameras and smartphone scanners and with data from a multitude of sources.

California Appeals Court Rules Amazon Can Be Held Liable for Third-Party Sellers’ Faulty Products

Gizmodo reported:

A new chapter unfolded this week in Amazon’s years-long legal battle over selling exploding hoverboards. A California appeals court has ruled that the e-commerce giant is responsible for the safety of third-party products sold on its platform, according to the Los Angeles Times

Initially, a California judge sided with Amazon, which argues that it only connects customers with sellers and shouldn’t be held liable for safety issues that result from those transactions.

However, an appeals court ruled this week that Amazon is a “direct link in the vertical chain of distribution under California’s strict liability doctrine, acting as a powerful intermediary between the third party seller and the consumer.” You can check out the full ruling here.

Facebook Oversight Board to Rule on Suspended Trump Account on May 5

NBC News reported:

Former President Donald Trump will find out this week whether he gets to return to Facebook.

The social network’s quasi-independent Oversight Board says it will announce its decision Wednesday on a case concerning the former president.

Trump’s account was suspended for inciting violence that led to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riots.