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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is asking the Biden Administration for help managing the ongoing COVID-19 crisis in Texas after the state health department says they've run out of an antibody treatment proven to be the most effective against the omicron variant. Abbott on Friday released a statement saying the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) requested resources for federally-supported testing locations in Bexar, Cameron, Dallas, Harris, Hidalgo, and Tarrant counties. The governor said the state health department has also requested three teams of medical personnel to provide additional support to hospitals in urban areas of the state that do not have DSHS-contracted staff as well as additional allocations of monoclonal antibody treatments to fight the omicron variant and other variants of the virus. "Detecting COVID-19 and preventing COVID-related hospitalizations are critical to our fight against this virus," said Abbott in a prepared statement. "Testing sites, additional medical staff, and continued shipments of therapeutics from the federal government will help us continue to save lives and mitigate the spread of COVID-19." Coronavirus Pandemic Full coverage of the COVID-19 outbreak and how it impacts you The governor said in a statement Friday…

When Jennifer Chen travelled back to her hometown in central China last winter for Lunar New Year, she thought little about Twitter. She had around 100 followers on an account she believed to be anonymous. While living in China, she retweeted news and videos, and occasionally made comments censored on Chinese platforms, like voicing her support for Hong Kong’s protesters and her solidarity with minorities who have been interned. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for the authorities to go after her. The police knocked on her parents’ door when she was visiting. She said they had summoned her to the station, questioned her and then commanded her to delete her Twitter posts and account. They continued to track her when she went overseas to study, calling her and her mother to ask if Chen had recently visited any human rights websites. The Chinese government, which has built an extensive digital infrastructure and security apparatus to control dissent on its own platforms, is going to even greater lengths to extend its internet dragnet to unmask and silence those who criticise the country on Twitter,  » Read More

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Palestinian journalists have raised the alarm over what they describe as unjust suppression of their content on Facebook, a claim backed by rights groups but rejected by the social media giant. On Dec 4, Palestine TV correspondent Christine Rinawi posted a video on her Facebook account in which Israeli security forces were seen shooting a Palestinian on the ground, killing him. He had just carried out a knife attack on an Israeli civilian. Shortly after she posted her video, Rinawi, who has nearly 400,000 followers, noticed it had been removed from her account. This was not her first experience with Facebook's enforcement, and Rinawi said her account had already been restricted after she shared footage of a November attack in Jerusalem. In both cases, Facebook said it intervened because the posts violated the platform's standards. A spokesperson for Facebook's parent company Meta said its policies "were designed to give everyone a voice while keeping them safe on our apps". "We apply these policies to everyone equally,  » Read More

WILL OREMUSWASHINGTON POST December 30, 2021, 8:17AM Updated 13 hours ago People are getting married in the metaverse now, we're told. Speculators are buying real estate in the metaverse, according to the headlines. Managers must learn to hold meetings in the metaverse, it would seem. This month, an executive at Facebook - er, Meta - gave an interview in the metaverse. One slight hitch: The metaverse doesn't exist yet, and it probably won't anytime soon. What does exist is an idea, an explosion of hype, and a bevy of rival apps and platforms looking to capitalize on both - without a clear path between the idea and reality. In techland, 2021 wasn't the year of the metaverse. It was the year of rebranding existing technologies as building blocks for the metaverse, while leaving intact the corporate walls that make a true metaverse impossible. On Oct. 28, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook was changing its name to Meta to reflect its new focus on building the metaverse: a vast,  » Read More

NOIDA: A woman has been booked for allegedly conning another for a tune of Rs 42 lakh. The victim had befriended the accused on a social media platform. In the complaint registered at Sector 39 police station, Vandana Chauhan (32), a teacher and resident of Sector 45, stated that she had befriended a woman named Aarti on Facebook. “After a few days of conversation, she asked me for my address. Initially I hesitated but gave it away after her repeated requests. Then few days later, I got a phone call from Aarti where she said that a parcel has arrived on my name at her office in Mumbai,” the complaint read. The accused further mentioned that it carries some gold jewellery, wrist watches and Rs 50-Rs 55 lakh in cash. “I was told that I’ll need to pay some amount as a processing fee for the parcel’s clearance. Without thinking anything, I ended up paying Rs 42 lakh before realising that I have been trapped,” the complaint read.  » Read More

The night sky has several treats in store for 2022: Expect lunar eclipses, a planetary alignment and meteor showers!The new year brings not one, but two total lunar eclipses -- the first on the night of May 15-16 and the last on Nov. 8, according to AccuWeather.The May total lunar eclipse will be visible throughout the entire contiguous U.S., weather permitting of course. Unfortunately for West Coasters, the eclipse will only be visible briefly.The Western U.S., however, has an advantage for the November lunar eclipse, as the moon will set just before the height of the eclipse on the East Coast.Lunar eclipses happen when a full moon enters the Earth's shadow, said Andrew Fazekas, the "Night Sky Guy" and science columnist with National Geographic. This makes the moon appear orange or red."This is when turns that eerie orangey-red color. All the sunsets and sunrises around the Earth are being imparted at the same time as the thin veneer of our atmosphere funnels that light onto the surface of the moon," he said.  » Read More

The nickname “Facebook Law,” which has been given to a bill to prevent incitement on social media, is misleading and dangerous. It obscures fundamental flaws in the bill, which was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation Monday night in preparation for the first of three required Knesset votes.First, the bill would allow district court judges to remove posts not just from Facebook, and not even just from all social media outlets, as its official name implies, but from any website at all. Second, in addition to defining the crime, the bill includes vague considerations about possible harm to “an individual’s safety,” “public safety” and “national security.” These are very broad terms that are open to different interpretations, frequently political ones. And as both military censorship and judicial gag orders have proven, despite the standard of “near certainty” set by the High Court of Justice, in the vast majority of cases judges approve requests of this type almost automatically, in ex parte hearings and with the evidence heard on camera – practices the current bill would also allow.  » Read More

Times News Facebook followers were recently asked this question: “How do you think the opioid settlement money should be spent in this region?” Eighty-two people weighed in with their recommendations. This word cloud is representative of those comments. Times News Facebook followers were recently asked this question: “How do you think the opioid settlement money should be spent in this region?” Eighty-two people weighed in with their recommendations. This word cloud is representative of those comments. WordClouds.com  » Read More

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A man prohibited from carrying a gun was arrested in the Twin Cities the day after Christmas after he accidentally shot himself in the foot. The Brooklyn Park Police Department says the incident happened around 2:15 a.m. Sunday in the suburb just north of Minneapolis. The man drove himself to a local hospital, where he told officers that he accidentally shot himself inside his car on the 8400 block of Sheridan Avenue. According to police, the man suffered a minor injury and was released from the hospital. Officers seized the gun and arrested the man because they say he is prohibited from possessing a firearm.  » Read More

CLEVELAND, Ohio - An article about the first baby gorilla born at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo was the most popular post on cleveland.com’s Facebook page in 2021.The story about the western lowland gorilla giving birth to a male in October, a first in the zoo’s 139-year history, garnered the most interest and chatter of any cleveland.com Facebook post this year. The Nov. 4 story raked in more than 92,000 reactions, 1,700 comments and nearly 5,000 shares.Here’s a look at the Top 21 Facebook posts of 2021 based on total interactions. Data is based on most likes, comments and shares from a CrowdTangle search as of Dec. 13.No. 2: A video of Ohio State University’s marching band honoring Sept. 11 heroes on the 20th anniversary of the attack was also wildly popular on Facebook. The video received more than 70,000 reactions, 3,400 comments and more than 2.5 million views.No. 3: A tribute in memory of Ohio Navy Hospital Corpsman Max Soviak, who was killed along with 12 other U.S.  » Read More