Category: Uncategorized

Unless The Supremes Step In Tonight, Or In The Morning — All Employers With More Than 100 Employees Must Inform Employees TOMORROW…

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…nation-wide, employers must inform employees starting tomorrow as to which policy the employer intends to adopt, to comply with OSHA’s new standards, in workplaces.

Many employers have already put out “company wide” emails and memos, electing one or the other. But tomorrow promises to be hectic, as the government has said starting tomorrow, it will begin to enforce the rules. It may call and ask, as to which option has been chosen, by a given employer, nationwide — and ask for evidence that the company has reasonably informed employees about how to comply, with specificity.

In the case of companies choosing the first option — univcersal vaccination, it would be presumptively good enough, to have each employee produce an orginal vaccine card, not a copy — and let the empoyer place a copy in the employee’s private health benefits file (on paper or electronically). For those choosing option two, it seems proof of testing may require the tests be done on site (or at least under employer-contracted supervision, so as to truthfully be able to report to OSHA by February, if asked).

…The Standard generally requires employers with 100 or more employees to implement a written policy that requires either (1) all employees to be vaccinated against COVID19 or (2) employees who are not fully vaccinated to wear masks and supply proof of a negative COVID-19 test at least once every seven days when working with others in indoor settings, with appropriate exceptions (such as for employees entitled under federal law to religious accommodations) under both options….

I would expect that most will choose the vaccination route, as it will minimize the personal injury /unsafe workplace suits, from employees who claim that co-workers gave them COVID, and OSHA had given the employer “cover” — for demanding vaccinations. If the employer did not do so, that might amount to… negligence.

Me? I am happy to be more in a quandary… about the temperature of the Olympic-sized pool water tomorrow (70 plus degrees by noon here), than whether any client of mine will find themselves neck deep in hot OSHA-waters.

[I am (still) “haunted by waters“, though — nonetheless.] Be excellent to your fellow workers — get vaccinated, and volunteer to let your employer / HR team lead know… about your status.

नमस्ते

[O/T: Space Sci-Fi] The Would-Be “Hut” — On The Dark Side Of The Moon? Just A… Rock.

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Many Earth-bound Sci-Fi lovers had hoped that the blurry images in the distance (originally released in November) from the “Jade Rabbit” Chinese rover on the moon, would turn out to be some form of monolith — or at least a pristine geometric shape.

Sadly, for the romantics — that’s a… nope. It’s just an ordinary moon rock, oddly-lit at certain hours, in the orbit. And it all reminds us of the McCracken monoliths found worldwide in late 2020 (thus the legacy image). Here’s the non-thrilling denouement, of the story:

…The [Chinese] rover has now driven just over 1,000 meters since it arrived three years ago on the moon’s far side, in Von Kármán crater, as part of the Chang’e-4 mission. It is the first mission to land on the far side.

Visual illusions are common in the history of space exploration, whether seen by astronomers peering through telescopes on Earth or robotic explorers on other worlds capturing images with cameras. In a parallel with the rabbitlike rock found by China’s rover, a NASA rover on Mars, Opportunity, spotted something that looked like bunny ears in 2004. Further analysis by engineers on Earth suggested it was insulation or other soft material that fell off the rover itself….

Well — the next gen Goddard space ‘scope (using ifrared), may yet detect a “Dyson Sphere” being piloted around some distant — and very old “Red Dwarf” star, by some as yet unseen… intelligence.

Or… (perhaps!) more monoliths may appear this spring in canyons in Utah, Arizona and northern California (or western Oregon). We shall see… smiling widely, now.

Confidentially (and tongue firmly in cheek), I’ve been learning to weld (and preserve!) shiny metal structures, in polished geometric tower-shapes here, in my southwestern hiatus art classes. Hilarious.

नमस्ते

What Hinderaker DOESN’T Know About SEC Proxy Rules… Would Fill An Ocean.

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In a Sunday morning post, he opines that the parent of Google will have to let shareholders vote on a right-wing proposed resolution about disclosing “collusion” (whatever that might mean) between the company and the Biden administration.

Whatever else might be said of such a Quixotic effort, it is true that the SEC rules governing public company proxy statement mechanics… allow Alphabet to exclude the proposal. [Even putting aside the fact that it makes unproven claims about the Biden administration’s influence over Alphabet, Alphabet is entitled to run a private chat or video club any way it wants (including the business choice to exclude odious viewpoints, as most favorably construed for the proponents here). Same, an entirely free of charge search algorithm.] We might also mention that avoiding the amplification of falsehoods about vaccines — and public health more generally, is clearly a legitimate business goal. One left under SEC rules (and state corporate law) to the sound business judgment of the involved boards and officers.

In sum, the question the proponents offer, even if assumed factual (which it is decidedly… not) is not outside the ordinary business rule, to be clear.

Even so, I might urge the company to put it to a vote, just to shut the wing-nuts up.

It will go down in flames, and end the nonsense. Excluding it will probably lead to a suit from the wing-nuts… one they will lose.

But to be clear, SEC Rule 14a-8(i)(7) and the no-action letters issued thereunder permit Alphabet to simply ignore these lunatics.

Cheers, John — I guess you’re recovering from your COVID bout. Good to see.

Onward to a sunny but shortish mountains hike, on a Sunday afternoon in the 70s here.

Finally — Justice, In Georgia: All Three Of Mr. Arbery’s Murderers Sentenced To… Life.

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To be sure, none of it will bring young Mr. Arbery back. And the younger one will be allowed to seek parole in 20 years.

Each of the other two will die in prison. [My prior backgrounder here.] That it seems, is… justice — as near as can be achieved in such a case. These three men lynched him. I will close this Friday with some of the prose/poem his sister read aloud about him, today in court:

…Mr Arbery’s sister Jasmine Arbery described how the things she loved about her brother were the same things that led the three men to murder him that day.

“Ahmaud had dark skin that glistened in the sunlight like gold. He had thick, coily hair and he would often like to twist it. Ahmaud had a broad nose… He was tall with an athletic build. He enjoyed running and had an appreciation for being outdoors,” she said.

“These are the qualities that made these men assume that Ahmaud was a dangerous criminal and chase him with guns drawn.

“To me, those qualities reflect a young man full of life and energy, who looked like me, and the people I love….”

Be excellent to one another. I’m… out.

नमस्ते

Last Night, A Silly Supremes Brief Was Filed — On Why The Vax Standard Should Fall: Openly Ignores That Federal Appellate Courts Rule OVER Trial Ones.

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Perhaps realizing that the ship is sinking on them, the ever-intrepid BST Holdings legal team filed a “supplemental authority” brief overnight, before the Supremes. The incompetent pandering there… is embarrassing, to be honest.

In it, the team suggested that now eleven courts have found deficiencies with the federal OSHA and HHS vaccine standards. [To be clear, there were no surprises at the Supremes today, at argument — and so, the regulations will stand, Condor confidently predicts.]

But… almost as footnote, the BST lawyers mention that in the only appellate courts (the bosses!) to squarely rule, the score is 2-0, in favor of the rules’ legitimacy. I won’t link it (on my own server — here it is as a temporary link on the Supremes’ site) — but I will note that citing trial court judges primarily appointed by Trump or Reagan is no way to win at the Supremes, in the face of the conservative Sixth Circuit coming out the other way. To say nothing of the actual OSHA statute. Hilarious:

…Only two courts have examined these mandates on the likelihood of success on the merits and declined to issue an injunction. See In re: MCP No. 165, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Interim Final Rule: Covid-19 Vaccination and Testing; Emergency Temporary Standard 86 Fed. Reg. 61402, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 37349 (6th Cir. Dec.17, 2021) (dissolving the 5th Circuit OSHA mandate stay); Florida v. HHS, No. 21-14098-JJ, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 35998 (11th Cir. Dec. 6, 2021) (healthcare workers mandate).

As things stand today, four of the five vaccine mandates are currently enjoined [Ed. Note: this is a false statement of the current, applicable law]. The OSHA mandate is the last man standing. The Sixth Circuit broke with this extensive line of authority when it decided to vacate the Fifth Circuit’s stay….

Well… that’s just silly. Now travel well sir:

नमस्ते

A Fond Remembrance, This Morning… He Was Far More Than A Hollywood Legend, To Millions Of Americans

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He marched with Dr. King. He was a face that most African Americans (and young men, especially) could see as “like them” — in a mass-media landscape then bereft of strong, successful black men. Succeeding, on the silver screen — and living his values, in real life. He was a very fine man. [Don’t buy the nonsense of the far right — trying to tear him down, as they tried with Dr. King, and more recently with Desmond Tutu.]

Now he is sailing the universe, with Abraham, Martin, John and Bobby… and yes, Desmond, most recently. And countless millions of others, whose names we will never know. But… for certain, “Mr. Tibbs” will never be forgotten:

So much time has passed, since this above clip — and in some ways… so very little. Onward, with a sad smile.

नमस्ते

Tangerine’s Opinions — On The Public School System He Failed Out Of… Aren’t Worth Very Much.

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…In addition, I would note that there is credible evidence that he had his sister (the smart one — a former federal judge) take many of his exams for him, even after high school. So… forgive me, if I don’t take the word of a guy who was confused about where Alabama is on a map… very seriously, on matters of primary public education (and safety) during an ongoing pandemic.

One that has already killed over 800,000 people (including teachers, administrators, janitors and yes, students and their parents and grandparents) — in the US alone.

You should probably sit this one out, champ.

Out.

[U: Univ. Pres. Resigns.] Florida Files: Gov. DeSantis’ Repression Of Profs’ First Amendment Rights… Is Nearly At Its End.

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UPDATED @ 5 PM EST 01.05.2022: The University’s President is stepping aside. He quoted scripture saying he “kept the faith and fought the good fight….” You may make of that what you will.

He was a Republican appointee, afterall. End, update.

Once again, tonight — we offer an opinion penned by the very able federal District Court Judge Mark Walker… replete with language shading toward the majestic. We do so, because he holds that Gov. DeSantis may not transform a public university and its professors (taxpayer funded) into unwilling propaganda agents for his republican talking points, and restrict the professors’ rights to offer learned opinions about voter rights, and voter repression, all at DeSantis’ hands (or at least, his direction). It would be hard to imagine a clearer First Amendment violation, being driven by a now-sitting 21st Century Governor. [My backgrounder from the earlier November developments, here.]

This is a matter of vital importance. The people of Florida have not elected him (as a matter of clear black letter law) to use their (not his) state universities to entrench his hold on the electorate, by repressing lawful votes — and voters. So — here it is, all 23 pages, in full — and a bit:

…There is no doubt Plaintiffs’ intended course of conduct, participating in litigation as expert witnesses, is affected with a constitutional interest. See Rainey v. Jackson State Coll., 481 F.2d 347, 350 (5th Cir. 1973) (noting where college allegedly breached one-year contract because of professor’s participation as defense expert in obscenity trial “make out what appear to us to be a clear case of impermissibly freighting plaintiff’s contract with a deprivation of the First Amendment right to free speech”). And Plaintiffs have demonstrated that, for fear of repercussion or retaliation, they are self-censoring from such participation. An “alleged danger of this [policy] is, in large measure one of self-censorship; a harm that can be realized without an actual prosecution.” ACLU v. Fla. Bar, 999 F.2d 1486, 1493 (11th Cir. 1993) (emphasis in original) (quoting Virginia v. Am. Booksellers Ass’n, Inc., 484 U.S. 383, 393 (1988))….

[P]ublic statements by the Chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees leave this Court with little doubt that the University of Florida intends to enforce its conflict-of-interest policy in the manner Plaintiffs fear. Speaking only ten days after Defendant Fuchs’s “adoption” of the proposed changes to the conflict-of-interest policy supposedly mooted this case, Chairman Hosseini struck a different tone. According to Chairman Hosseini, faculty members had “taken advantage of their positions” by using those positions “to improperly advocate personal political viewpoints to the exclusion of others.” ECF No. 45-4 at 12. “This. Will. Not. Stand.” he remarked, “[i]t must stop, and it WILL stop.” Id. at 13–14. Chairman Hosseini also made explicit what was implicit in the University’s earlier denials. “Think of everything we’ve been able to accomplish during the past five years” he said. Id. at 15. “These things were all made possible through the support of our state leaders.” Id. at 16. And those leaders, he explained, “are fed up with the waste of [state] dollars by the few who are misusing their positions.” Id. at 18. So, he closed, “[i]t is time to stand up for what is right and to put a stop to what is wrong.” Id. In short, Plaintiffs’ activities anger Tallahassee, that threatens the University’s funding, and so the University must halt Plaintiffs’ activities….

That last bit actually sounds more like Berlin, in 1939… than 2021-22, in Tallahassee. Onward — as we are road-tripping to Sedona in the moring… grinning.

नमस्ते

New Dial In Hearing @ 1 PM On 01.10.2022, In The USDC Suit Alleging Tangerine Violated The “Anti-Klan” Act, In Trying To Thwart A Lawful Election Outcome On 01.06.2021

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All members of the public may listen in, at the below dial in link, since the courtrooms are once again shuttered — in DC — for Omicron outbreaks. [My backgrounder, on all this, here.] It’s a decidedly “bad look,” for any former guy to try to thwart a lawful election outcome, in our constitutional system of ordered liberty.

And so, I will try to be near reliable cell service on that day, but may (honestly) have to listen to a replay. Here’s the latest:

…The Oral Argument set for 1/10/2022 at 1:00 PM before Judge Amit P. Mehta will proceed via videoconference. The courtroom deputy will circulate connection information to counsel. Members of the public or media may access this hearing by dialing the court’s toll-free public access line: (877) 848-7030, access code 321-8747….

Now you know. Onward, grinning… ever grinning. Be excellent to one another.

नमस्ते