News Round-Up

• “Jordan Peterson: ‘Gay kids are being convinced they’re transsexual. That’s not so good for gay people, is it?’” – After a long hiatus from public life, the famous psychologist is interviewed by the Telegraph and reflects on his hellish illness, identity politics and the “snake-pit” that is Twitter
• “Zahawi offers teachers 9% pay rise in bid to see off strikes” – Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has bowed down to militant teaching unions by offering them a whopping 9% pay rise in a desperate bid to see off strike action in the autumn, reports MailOnline. Needless to say, the offer has been rejected as derisory
• “Totalled Tesla goes up in flames three weeks after crash” – A pit and 4,500 gallons of water were needed to put out the flaming Tesla
• “Is vaccinating children against Covid pointless?” – Coronavirus cases may be rising again, but many parents are starting to wonder if they should put their faith in the resistance of the young, says the Telegraph
• “Can Britain do ‘soft power’ anymore?” – Ed West skewers the British Council in his Substack newsletter
• “Woke capitalism is busily destroying itself” – By abdicating power to Left-wing social media teams, firms are angering their actual customers, says Matthew Lynn in the Telegraph
• “Friends creator gives $4m in apology for ’embarrassing’ whiteness of show” – Marta Kauffman, who created Friends, used to think criticising the show for being too white was ‘unfair’, but now she has capitulated to woke pressure
• “Science and Civil Liberties: The Lost ACLU Lecture of Carl Sagan” – Around 1987, Sagan gave an uncannily prescient lecture to the Illinois state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Steven Pinker and Harvey Silvergate have dusted it off and polished it up for Quillette
• “Essential Questions to WHO on Pandemic Preparedness and Response – PANDA” – The latest publication from PANDA, the South African anti-lockdown think tank 
• “And The Winner Is, Germany! – Manhattan Contrarian” – Just over six months ago, in December 2021, the Manhattan Contrarian asked: “Which Country Or U.S. State Will Be The First To Hit The Green Energy Wall?” The answer is Germany
• “Harvard must fall” – Harvard has begun eating its own tail in its desperation to conform to woke orthodoxy, says Ayaan Hirsi Ali in UnHerd
• “The founding myth of Stonewall” – James Kirchick, author of Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington, says the actual story of Stonewall is far too bourgeois for today’s LGBTQ+ activists so they’ve had to invent a more racy one
• “Facebook flags The Babylon Bee for ‘false information’ over pregnant Ken doll satire” – The website has been blocked on Facebook – again! – with the social media company claiming its blindingly obvious satirical squibs are some kind of misinformation
• “Scouts face backlash over new ‘trans fun’ badge for members” – Cubs were also offered a ‘bisexual fun badge’, a ‘lesbian fun badge’ and a ‘Pride fun badge’, but critics say that asking children to support an adult political movement is wrong, reports MailOnline
• “Britain’s Covid cases jump by a third in a week” – Britain’s new Covid surge continues to grow with cases jumping by a third in a week, says MailOnline, with data suggesting as many as one in 18 people have the virus in some parts of the country
• “Are Covid restrictions STILL on the cards? Boris leaves door open” – The Prime Minister was given the opportunity to rule out ever imposing restrictions again in an interview with LBC this morning – and declined. Heaven help us
• “Just Stop oil eco-zealots are silenced by hero gallery worker” – Two men from the campaign group Just Stop Oil glued themselves to a painting hung in Manchester Art Gallery today and were arrested for the stunt after a gallery worker advised them to make it a “silent protest”
• “New York City Mayor Says He Will Mandate COVID Vaccines for Children This Fall” – New York City handled Covid as poorly as any city on earth, says Ian Miller in OutKick. Now, the new Mayor is insisting all kids must be vaccinated if they want to return to school after the summer holidays
• “BBC takes stock of Countryfile amid complaints about impartiality” – Countryfile is facing accusations of pro-Remainer bias and criticism over its coverage of issues including hunting and the environment, says the Telegraph

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