News Round-Up

• “Covid cases continue to plummet: infections fall by another fifth” – “The Department of Health posted another 32,322 positive tests across the country in the last 24 hours, down 19.4% last Monday. Cases have dropped week-on-week on all but one day since October 24th,” reports MailOnline.
• “I was thrilled to get the first two Covid vaccines. But I won’t be getting the booster” – I have come to the conclusion that I don’t need a third jab, and it has been my life-long policy not to take medicines that I don’t need, writes Patrick O’Flynn in the Telegraph.
• “I won’t take my family to America until it stops making toddlers wear masks” – The U.S. has some of the world’s most restrictive Covid rules when it comes to children, writes Natalie Paris in the Telegraph.
• “Iconic singer Van Morrison sued over Covid comments” – “Northern Ireland’s Health Minister, Robin Swann, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Van Morrison after the rock and R&B legend labelled him ‘very dangerous’ over Covid restrictions during the pandemic,” reports RT.
• “Myocarditis ‘tends to be mild’? Tell that to this vaccine victim” – “it is no comfort if you are one of the ‘rare’ cases to find yourself in hospital with heart inflammation like Amanda Hartnetty’s 21 year-old son,” says Sally Beck, who analyses the vaccine side-effect of myocarditis in TCW.
• “Where has BMJ editor Peter Doshi, a vaccine sceptic, been hiding until now?” – “Perhaps it’s not surprising that he never became a darling of SAGE or found himself in the inner sanctum of government science advisers. They might have found his pursuit of the truth rather hard to stomach,” writes Kathy Gyngell, who examines the research findings of BMJ editor Peter Doshi in TCW.
• “For whom do the Covid ‘fact checkers’ really work?” – We are living in a world where fact checking institutions are literally asserting as fact something which is at best unproven, writes Vinay Prasad for the Brownstone Institute.
• “Pfizer ‘vaccine’: kill 200 to ‘save’ one?” – Analysis of official data shows the risks attached to the Covid ‘vaccine’ far outweighs any theoretical reward, says Kit Knightly in OffGuardian.
• “Israel has surrendered to the vaccine mob – and for what?” – “The Israeli Government is ignoring expert critiques of the flawed NEJM study and is rushing to implement a third and possible fourth booster shot to its population in a campaign based on dodgy data,” writes Karen Harradine in TCW.
• “Republicans slam Biden vaccine rule for businesses as health groups defend it” – Divided reaction to mandate requiring that large companies either vaccinate staff or administer tests mirrors vaccine rollout in U.S., reports the Guardian.
• “Pfizer to ask FDA to authorize boosters for all aged 18 and older” – Pfizer are planning to ask the FDA to authorize their Covid vaccine for all Americans aged 18 and older as early as this week, reports the Mail.
• “The trouble with Austria’s vaccine passport plan” – “Are vaccine passports being used in other countries in an attempt to cut Covid infections, or to try and boost vaccine take up by curtailing the social lives of those who refuse? The latest change in policy in Austria would appear to confirm that for them, it’s the latter,” argues Ross Clark in the Spectator.
• “COP26: Why China, India and Australia are reluctant to ditch coal” – China burns nearly as much coal as the rest of the world combined, while Australia is one of the biggest exporters of fossil fuels across the globe, and India relies on coal for more than 60% of its electricity, reports Sky News.
• “Now he will go to the climate ball – HSE defends giving second Covid test to Eamon Ryan” – The Irish Environment Minister can now attend COP26 after a second Covid test, which came back negative, overturned his previous positive test, reports the Independent.ie.
• “‘They’re woke!’ Aussie commentator accuses Kate, William and Queen of becoming ‘political‘” – Top royals, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and even the Queen, have become “political animals”, according to an Australian journalist, reports the Express.
• “Stop blaming racism for Covid’s impact on minorities” – Cheap accusations of ‘structural racism’ are a distraction from the real causes of disparities, argues Rakib Ehsan in Spiked.
• “Pronoun badges for staff at major U.K. retail chain trigger calls for boycott” – “Marks & Spencer, a British high street favourite, has started offering staff the opportunity to wear a badge featuring their preferred pronoun, alongside their first name and the firm’s logo,” reports RT.
• “Why is the army fighting the culture wars?” – The Ministry of Defence now expects personnel to announce their pronouns at meetings, reports Jo Bartosch in Spiked.
• “Scientific Merit and the ‘Equity’ Cult” – “Astronomer John Kormendy withdrew an article from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), after a preprint version that he had just posted on the web drew sharp criticism for threatening the conduct of ‘inclusive’ science,” writes Heather Mac Donald in City Journal.
• “Railway museum to research steam trains for racism and slavery links” – “The Universities of Sheffield, Leeds and York, together with the National Railway Museum, Network Rail, and three other museums in the North of England will spend £9,000 researching how steam power aided imperial expansion and profiteering during the Industrial Revolution,” reports RT.
• “Unvaccinated care home workers face the sack on Thursday” – Care group boss Mike Padgham speaks to TalkRadio: “This is risking not having enough staff, they have to balance it out. It doesn’t make sense to me.”