News Round-Up

• “Researchers develop oral shot to kill Covid before it infects the body” – Researchers in Japan have developed a Covid vaccine in pill form which, when given to monkeys, saw them produce the necessary antibodies to protect against Covid without visible side effects, reports the Mail.
• “Do you know what ‘safe and effective’ means according to the CDC? I’m going to tell you.” – The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recommends updated COVID-19 vaccines for everyone six months and older. The evidence for its safety and effectiveness is unconvincing, says Steve Kirsch on Substack.
• “Trump is afraid of his COVID-19 record” – Donald Trump doesn’t want you to remember what he said and did during the pandemic, writes Pedro Gonzalez in the Florida Standard.
• “Tony Blair: Tax junk food to tackle obesity” – Tony Blair has urged ministers to tax junk food so it is too expensive for the poor, according to the Mail.
• “The worrying decline of the male teacher” – One in three primary schools and one in four secondary schools do not have a male classroom teacher anywhere in the school, writes Kristina Murkett in the Spectator.
• “‘Digital skills’ will take care of themselves; it’s the other skills we need to worry about” – Dr. David McGrogan challenges the prevailing trend of overemphasising digital skills in schools and instead advocates for traditional education that imparts knowledge not easily acquired elsewhere.
• “The cruelty of the scientific method” – In Harrumpf, Tom Forrester-Paton celebrates the scientific method and cautions against accepting claims without empirical validation.
• “Ofgem chief warns over ‘reality’ of high energy bills this winter” – Brits have been warned that they face the “reality” of energy bills being as high or “worse” this winter than last year, reports the Mail.
• “Sadiq Khan’s ‘war on motorists’ continues with biggest ever 20mph rollout” – Sadiq Khan has launched his biggest ever rollout of 20mph zones in what drivers have labelled the latest ‘war on motorists’, says the Telegraph.
• “M Zero: Glasgow’s road to nowhere” – Glasgow is unique among Britain’s major cities in having a motorway running practically through its centre. But this vital infrastructure is soon to be culled by Net Zero, warns Niall McCrae in TCW.
• “Vegan vigilantes are crushing the countryside” – Rural communities are living through a time of extreme intolerance, with the livestock farming and field sports communities on the front line, says Jamie Blackett in the Telegraph.
• “Germany’s Lindner blasts EU over ‘enormously dangerous’ green plans” – Germany’s Finance Minister has criticised Brussels politicians for proposing stricter clean energy building rules, cautioning that they could provoke a voter backlash and bolster the far right, reports Politico.
• “Gotham’s airheaded carbon law” – Set to take effect next year, the Climate Mobilisation Act will make living in New York costlier than ever, write John Ketcham and Jordan McGillis in City Journal.
•  “SNP delays ban on conversion therapy amid warnings it could criminalise parents” – The Scottish Government has postponed a ban on conversion therapy amid fears it could criminalise parents who question their child’s wish to change gender, reports the Telegraph.
• “Teachers and parents are ‘crying out’ for clarity on trans issues” – The U.K. Children’s Commissioner has warned that teachers and parents are “crying out” for school trans guidance to give “clarity”, says the Mail.
• “BBC denies purging Róisín Murphy tracks after backlash to puberty blocker comments” – The BBC has denied Róisín Murphy was removed from the airwaves because of a trans row over her comments about puberty blockers, reports the Telegraph.
• “Róisín Murphy and the limits of the new authoritarianism” – The roaring success of Róisín Murphy’s new album, Hit Parade, suggests that cancel culture has finally met its match, writes Brendan O’Neill in the Spectator.
• “To hell with woke publishers” – The gatekeepers of the publishing industry are riddled with a nasty strain of identity politics, says Gareth Roberts in Spiked.
• “BBC Scotland axes satirical cartoons after SNP complain” – The Spectator’s Steerpike eyerolls over BBC Scotland pulling satirical cartoons of politicians from social media, following criticism from members of Humza Yousaf’s Government.
• “The Left’s dangerous embrace of cancel culture” – Identitarians believe they’re speaking truth to power. They’re not, says Umut Ozkirimli in Spiked.
• “Banning smoking outside pubs is another step on the road to misery Britain” – The Government’s war against smokers needs to stop, argues Joseph Dinnage in CapX.
• “The dystopian rise of videogame censorship” – Call of Duty players will soon be subjected to AI-driven speech surveillance, warns Thomas Osborne in Spiked. You read it here first (h/t Jack Watson).
• “Australia is on the verge of a massive mistake” – In Country Squire, Prof. Roger Watson predicts that the Australian proposals for an indigenous voice will be approved, foreseeing dire consequences.
• “Book review: Elon Musk” – How can someone be so smart and so dumb at the same time, asks Dr. Scott Alexander in his Astral Codex Ten blog. Good summary of Ashlee Vance’s 2015 biography of Musk ahead of the Walter Isaacson magnum opus.
• “Apple calms angry mother nature but forgets to tell her about the lithium mines” – The Naked Emperor cringes at Apple’s latest ad featuring CEO Tim Cook and a symbolic Mother Nature, discussing environmental concerns and promoting climate-conscious behaviour.
• “Australian broadcaster Alan Jones utterly schools a panel of climate zealots on the reality of the climate scam” –Wide Awake Media has posted a video of Australian broadcaster Alan Jones – legend – letting off truth bombs in front of a panel of eco-fanatics on ABC’s Q&A.

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