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Biden Still Pushing Federal Worker Vaccine Mandate Despite Eased CDC Guidelines
President Biden’s administration is still pursuing litigation to implement a federal worker vaccine mandate despite recently changed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
The case, called Feds for Medical Freedom v. Biden, is set for a hearing before the entire Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 13. It stems from a case filed in Texas last December that resulted in a federal trial court issuing a nationwide injunction against the federal government enforcing its vaccine mandate for civilian employees.
A panel at the appeals court then ruled for the Biden administration, overturning the trial court. But the Feds for Medical Freedom workers group asked the entire 17-judge appeals court to weigh in. The court agreed, putting its previous ruling on hold and preventing the mandate from being enforced until a final ruling is issued. Now the Biden administration is set to go to court to try to enforce that mandate next month.
But the CDC recently changed its coronavirus guidelines, making recommendations on quarantine and prevention effectively equal between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
Judge Throws out Maine Lawsuit Against COVID Vaccine Mandate
A federal judge has dismissed a complaint from a group of healthcare workers who said they were unfairly discriminated against by Maine’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement.
The plaintiffs sued Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and other Maine officials along with a group of healthcare organizations in the state. The workers argued that the vaccine mandate violated their right to free exercise of religion because it did not provide an exemption for religious beliefs.
Jon Levy, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, wrote Thursday that the vaccine mandate was “rationally based” and that “no further analysis is required.”
Liberty Counsel, a law firm representing the healthcare workers, said in a statement on Friday that it would appeal the dismissal. The firm said in a statement that Levy’s dismissal was “critically flawed” and “contrary to recent Supreme Court precedent involving COVID restrictions on places of worship and many other Supreme Court decisions.”
HVCC to Enforce SUNY Vaccine Mandate, President Says
On Monday morning, Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) President Roger Ramsammy released a statement saying that the school will comply with SUNY policy that all students get vaccinated. HVCC had intended to make vaccinations optional in order to remove a barrier to higher education, Ramsammy said.
The union representing faculty at HVCC had loudly pushed back against the school’s decision to make vaccinations voluntary despite a SUNY-wide requirement. According to the union, they have offered to negotiate a staff vaccine requirement for over a year. After HVCC’s decision to enforce the vaccination requirement, the union said in part, “The entire situation could have been avoided had the College simply chosen to continue complying with the SUNY policy, as it had until just over a month ago.”
Public School Districts Implementing COVID Restrictions Meet Ferocious Community Pushback
School districts have re-implemented mandates for children for the 2022-2023 academic year, against the wishes of many parents across the U.S., who have been fighting it tooth and nail at the board of education meetings.
Most recently, a 4-year-old boy in San Francisco, California was kicked out of school for not wearing a mask, Fox News Digital reported Friday.
The dad’s attorney, Tracy Henderson, sent a cease and desist letter to the principal in the Mountain View Whisman School District which alleged bullying, discrimination and harassment over the mask requirement. Mountain View Whisman School District has since rescinded its mask mandate.
In another example, a Philadelphia mom, Suzanne Shaheen, who said her son has asthma, threatened to sue her school over the restrictions. “With a mask, no teacher would be able to see that he is having a flare-up, and the school district is basically isolating any kid who is not willing to wear a mask,” she told Fox & Friends First. All pre-kindergarten students in Philadelphia are required to wear masks all year while older age groups are required to wear masks for the first 10 days.
COVID Vaccine Mandate Undercut by Updated CDC Guidance: Lawsuit
An amended lawsuit filed Aug. 19 urges a court to rule against Rhode Island’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, pointing in part to updated COVID-19 guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Stephen Skoly is challenging Rhode Island’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, alleging it unconstitutionally discriminates against people with protection from prior infection.
The mandate imposed by state officials allowed medical exemptions but not ones on the basis of prior infection, or natural immunity. That violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, according to the 34-page complaint, filed in federal court in Rhode Island.
Skoly has suffered from Bell’s Palsy, a condition that has been linked to COVID-19 vaccines. He has also recovered from COVID-19, which gives him a high level of protection. After consulting with his doctor, Skoly decided not to get vaccinated.
Lawyers for Skoly listed two studies showing that natural immunity is superior to vaccination. They also noted how the CDC on Aug. 11 changed its guidance, which is utilized by officials across the country in imposing regulations.
Many Colleges Ease Mask Rules in Third Year of Coronavirus Pandemic
At George Washington University, masks are still mostly required indoors. So is vaccination against the coronavirus, with a booster shot. So is viral testing for students returning to campus. Catholic University, a few miles away, makes all of that optional.
Around the country, colleges divided sharply last year on whether to require vaccination. That split endures. The University of California at Berkeley, for instance, mandates the coronavirus vaccine and, for those who are eligible, a booster shot. The University of Texas at Austin doesn’t require them but “strongly encourages” them.
Isolation rules for those infected with the virus and quarantine rules for those exposed to it appear to be easing in many places. So are strict indoor masking policies. UC-Berkeley, which required face coverings indoors a year ago, now strongly recommends that masks be worn indoors regardless of vaccination status.
Beethoven Performance Axed as British Singers Refuse to Back Down to U.S. Orchestra’s COVID Mask Demands
A performance of Beethoven has been axed after a British orchestra refused to back down to a U.S. orchestra’s COVID mask demands.
The Edinburgh Festival Chorus was due to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony alongside the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival.
But the choir rejected the U.S. orchestra’s calls to wear face masks while singing, meaning the event has been canceled.
As a result, the Philadelphia Orchestra will now perform Beethoven’s Fifth on Aug. 25 because it doesn’t require a choir, organizers have said. But the cancellation has disappointed many fans, who were eagerly anticipating the event.
China’s Endless COVID Hysteria Is a Dark Experiment in Social Conditioning
There are many people that will say that Americans “rolled over” in the face of COVID restrictions and vaccine pressures despite extensive evidence that neither of these things had any effect on stopping or stalling the pandemic. But the notion of American pacifism is simply not true. If it were then the U.S. would be looking a lot more like China right now.
Growing opposition to meaningless COVID lockdowns and the vaccine passports was a mainstay in the U.S. that made government enforcement impossible. Joe Biden‘s attempt to introduce federal vax passport rules for businesses failed miserably, red states defied the lockdowns within a few months of the start of the pandemic and the states that kept restrictions in place had higher rates of infection while their economies sank. When it became clear to the establishment that millions of Americans were not going to comply, they had to back off.
Without the millions of courageous people that refused to comply our country might look very different today. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has faced little public opposition over their draconian COVID rules, and when they do, they don’t worry much because the population is completely disarmed. This has resulted in a veritable nightmare world for the citizenry. In fact, it almost seems like an experiment to find out how much psychological torture and oppression human beings are willing to endure.
Oracle’s ‘Surveillance Machine’ Targeted in U.S. Privacy Class Action
Enterprise giant Oracle is facing a fresh privacy class action claim in the U.S.
The suit, which was filed Friday as a 66-page complaint in the Northern District of California, alleges the tech giant’s “worldwide surveillance machine” has amassed detailed dossiers on some five billion people, accusing the company and its ad tech and advertising subsidiaries of violating the privacy of the majority of the people on Earth.
The suit has three class representatives: Dr. Johnny Ryan, senior fellow of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL); Michael Katz-Lacabe, director of research at The Center for Human Rights and Privacy; and Dr. Jennifer Golbeck, a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland — who say they are “acting on behalf of worldwide Internet users who have been subject to Oracle’s privacy violations”.
The key point here is there is no comprehensive federal privacy law in the U.S. — so the litigation is certainly facing a hostile environment to make a privacy case — hence the complaint references multiple federal, constitutional, tort and state laws, alleging violations of the Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Constitution of the State of California, the California Invasion of Privacy Act, as well as competition law, and the common law.
Signify Health Stock Surges As Amazon Reportedly Joins Potential Bidding War With CVS, UnitedHealth
Shares of Signify Health skyrocketed Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported e-commerce giant Amazon is reportedly looking into acquiring the at-home health services provider, joining a crop of other corporate giants — including CVS and UnitedHealth — in a potential bidding war that could value the firm at more than $8 billion.
Shares of Signify jumped as much as 40% early Monday to reach their highest level since July after WSJ reported over the weekend that Amazon is among firms looking to strike a deal to buy Signify within the next few weeks; Signify’s market cap climbed to about $6.8 billion amid the stock surge.
Virtual Reality Can Help Get Our Patients Vaccinated — Evidence Suggests VR Reduces Needle Pain and Anxiety
Whether it is the newly approved COVID-19 vaccines or school-required immunizations, many children receive their mandatory shots over summer vacation.
Estimates show that as many as two-thirds of children and one-fourth of adults have strong fears of needles. Despite the past few years’ extensive coverage of the political and cultural objections to vaccinations, procedural anxiety and fear also act as significant barriers to getting the entire population vaccinated against newer illnesses like COVID-19 as well as older ones.
Virtual reality (VR) offers an important solution for addressing the fear of needles and lessening anxiety associated with these common and necessary procedures.
Norway Wants Facebook Fined for Illegal Data Transfers
Facebook owner Meta Platforms should be fined for continuing to shuttle Europeans’ personal information to the United States in violation of a landmark EU court ruling, Norway’s data protection authority has told its peer regulators.
The authority is one of a handful of European regulators responding to the Irish Data Protection Commission‘s draft decision from July that orders Meta to cease its use of a legal instrument called standard contractual clauses (SCCs) to transfer data across the Atlantic — everything from family pictures to payroll information.
The Norwegian document suggests that the regulator wants to go further than the Irish Data Protection Commission, which in July decided to block Meta’s EU-U.S. data transfers but made no mention of a fine for the violations.
The Low Threshold for Face Recognition in New Delhi
Indian Law Enforcement is starting to place huge importance on facial recognition technology. Delhi police, looking into identifying people involved in civil unrest in northern India in the past few years, said that they would consider 80% accuracy and above as a “positive” match, according to documents obtained by the Internet Freedom Foundation through a public records request.
Facial recognition’s arrival in India’s capital region marks the expansion of Indian law enforcement officials using facial recognition data as evidence for potential prosecution, ringing alarm bells among privacy and civil liberties experts.
There are also concerns about the 80% accuracy threshold, which critics say is arbitrary and far too low, given the potential consequences for those marked as a match. India’s lack of a comprehensive data protection law makes matters even more concerning.
