I remember how it was -- JR
Saturday, August 28, 2021
Officials are offering new hope for the safety of U.S. schoolchildren threatened by COVID-19
The Biden administration said half of U.S. adolescents ages 12-17 had gotten at least their first COVID-19 vaccine, and the inoculation rate among teens is growing faster than any other age group.
“We have now hit a major milestone,” White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters at a briefing. “This is critical progress as millions of kids head back to school.”
Meanwhile, new studies from California both provided more evidence that schools can open safely if they do the right things and highlighted the danger of failing to follow proper precautions.
A study of COVID-19 cases from the winter pandemic peak in Los Angeles County found that case rates among children and adolescents were about 3½ times lower than in the general community when schools followed federal guidance on mask wearing, physical distancing, testing and other virus measures, officials said.
Another study from Marin County, north of San Francisco, found that a single unvaccinated teacher who came back to school two days after showing symptoms and read to her class without wearing a mask led to 26 other infections in May, before the highly contagious delta variant ran wild.
“Most of the places where we are seeing surges and outbreaks are in places that are not implementing our current guidance,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who discussed the studies at a briefing.
More than 3,100 active coronavirus cases have been reported in Arkansas public schools among students and employees, according to newly released numbers, and most youths are enrolled in districts that require masks. The mandates emerged after a judge temporarily blocked a state law that banned mask mandates in Arkansas, which ranks fifth nationally for new virus cases per capita, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
On the northern Gulf Coast, where Ida was forecast to become a dangerous hurricane before it hits on Sunday, workers at Singing River Gulfport in Mississippi expect to have to raise flood gates to keep rising water out of the hospital that is full of COVID-19 patients, the vast majority of whom aren't vaccinated, said facilities director Randall Cobb.
Complicating matters, he said, was that the hospital is short-staffed because of the pandemic and also expects to get a flood of patients suffering from ailments that typically follow any hurricane: broken bones, heart attacks, breathing problems and lacerations.
“It's going to be bad. It's going to be really bad,” Cobb said.
Located a few miles from the coast, the hospital has enough generator fuel, food and other supplies to operate on its own for at least 96 hours, he said, and it will help anyone who has a serious, life-threatening condition. But officials were trying to get the word out that people with less severe medical problems should go to special-needs storm shelters or contact emergency management.
“It’s very stressful because it’s too late if we have not thought of everything. Patients are counting on the medical care but also on the facility to be available,” Cobb said.
In Louisiana, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards said evacuation of hospitals in threatened areas — something that would normally be considered — is impractical with COVID-19 patients.
“That isn’t possible. We don’t have any place to bring those patients. Not in state, not out of state,” Edwards said.
So, he said, state officials have worked with health systems to ensure that they are prepared.
About 1,100 people are dying daily of COVID-19 in the United States, the most since mid-March, according to Johns Hopkins University data. About 85,000 people were hospitalized with the illness nationwide early this week, CDC data shows, the highest total since the post-holiday surge in early February.
The surge is largely fueled by the highly contagious delta variant among people who are not vaccinated. In areas where vaccination rates are particularly low, doctors have pleaded with their communities to get inoculated to spare overburdened hospitals. In places including Alabama, federal teams have been brought into to assist exhausted workers and fill staffing gaps caused by COVID-19 infections and exposure.
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UK: Head teacher wins standoff with travellers 'who demanded £5k to leave'
A headmistress at a prestigious public school stood firm when a group of 'blackmailing' travellers invaded their playing fields then demanded £5,000 to move on - refusing to pay them a penny.
Rhiannon Wilkinson, 59, who took charge at the £10,000 per term Ashville College in Harrogate only in April felt held to ransom by the demands of the group, who moved onto a rugby pitch on Tuesday evening in multiple vehicles and refused to leave when asked for the following two days.
They went on to demand £5,000 from the school's funds if they were to leave the site - and staff feared they might caused damage to the playing fields or even school buildings.
A source at the school in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, said it was also implied that if they didn't receive the money they would stay longer and other traveller groups would be invited to arrive to set up camp and make even more problems for the school.
a woman smiling for the camera: (© Provided by Daily Mail (
But Mrs Wilkinson, first female head in the college's 144 year history, refused to be intimidated and declined to offer any inducement to them to leave.
And today, Friday, she was able to signal that her hardline approach had brought victory as she alerted parents and governors that the travellers had given up on trying to get cash to leave and moved on without receiving a penny.
A member of staff said: 'When we arrived this morning they had left overnight, which is a great relief.
'There wasn't any damage or mess left behind and there wasn't any enforcement action, it seems they just decided to move on.
'It was a great relief as it did feel like there was an element of blackmailing when they asked for money to encourage them to leave.'
Local residents were also relieved at the news. One man walking his dog past the fields said: 'There's always a concern that they could bring disorder to the area. The school played it correctly, I'm glad they didn't back down.'
Members of the group told college staff that they were en route to a wedding in Ireland after attending the annual Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria.
The college - where boarding fees are as much as £10,000-per-term - was staging a series of summer sports activities for boys and girls, which had to be suspended amid safety concerns.
The college applied for a court order but were told it could take up to ten days and interrupt the start of the new term.
Police had been notified but were 'powerless' to act, the college said today in its emailed statement.
In a message sent to concerned parents, the college said: 'We are pleased to report that after less than two days, the travellers that set up camp on our sports pitches have now vacated the grounds.
'Our groundkeeping staff have conducted a thorough inspection of the rugby fields and can confirm that there is no damage, and that they are safe for games to be resumed.'
The college had been concerned about a protracted and costly legal battle after North Yorkshire police said they were powerless to act.
The college said on Wednesday: 'Despite the travellers illegally camping on our grounds, which is private property, and their presence being a child safeguarding issue, the police state they are powerless to take action. This has already impacted on our summer sports camps and there's a possibility the start of the new term may have to be delayed.
'We are now having to engage the services of a solicitor to help us apply for a court order, and in the meantime we are powerless to do anything, which is incredibly frustrating and worrying.'
a person in a green field: (© Provided by Daily Mail (
North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Phil Allott spoke of the tricky process in removing travellers.
He said: 'I know how frustrating it can be for residents who feel helpless when travellers arrive in their community, and how frustrating it can be for the police and local authorities who want to help but face significant hurdles doing so.
'The issue is that trespass is a civil offence and not a criminal offence. So if the encampment is on private land such as Ashville College, it is the landowner's responsibility unless there are other crimes being committed.'
Ashville College - motto 'to be, rather than to seem' - is a co-educational school for both day and boarding pupils between the ages of three to 18. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest independent school in Harrogate and owns a 60 acre estate in the spa town.
Former pupils - known as Old Ashvillians - include Downton Abbey star Jim Carter, Oscar-nominated film director Jamie Donoughue and Tory MP Julian Sturdy.
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‘Sledgehammer': Plan to force Australian university staff to reveal foreign political history
More China hysteria
A confidential plan to force tens of thousands of university staff to reveal a decade of foreign political and financial interests has met with such fierce backlash that the federal government is now reviewing the proposal.
New draft foreign interference guidelines for universities are proposing to demand academics disclose their membership of overseas political parties and any financial support they have received from foreign entities for their research over the past 10 years.
Multiple university sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there was widespread concern about the requirements, with one university executive describing it as "a sledgehammer, blanket approach" to the issue.
The proposed guidelines, which have been drafted by the University Foreign Interference Taskforce (UFIT), represent a major ramping up of scrutiny of academics' backgrounds in response to concerns within the federal government about research theft by the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign actors.
Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson, who serves on the UFIT steering committee, confirmed on Friday afternoon that "UFIT members have agreed that the relevant section will be reconsidered and redrafted". The decision to review the controversial section was made on Friday after a zoom consultation with NSW universities.
The taskforce, set up to address foreign interference issues in the university sector, includes vice-chancellors, government department officials and representatives from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. It has held zoom sessions with university leaders on the new guidelines over the past fortnight.
University of Sydney professor Duncan Ivison, deputy vice-chancellor for research, said universities had made clear to the government that the requirement for staff to disclose membership of political parties was "very, very problematic".
"We don't think it is reasonable to ask our staff their political affiliation. We've made that really clear, and government have agreed to take on board our concerns and come back to us," he said.
Professor Ivison said the consultation process was working and it was important the guidelines were proportionate to the risk security agencies were attempting to address.
"We also want to make sure they are compatible with the mission of universities. We're not ASIO, we're not a security agency."
Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge said he would not comment on "what is or isn't in the draft guidelines" but stressed that security agencies had made clear that universities were targets for foreign interference and espionage.
The decision to refresh the UFIT guidelines, which were first implemented in 2019, comes as the federal government has grown increasingly concerned about espionage at universities involving the theft of critical research and sensitive data by foreign actors. Under laws enacted last year, the government has the power to cancel research contracts between Australian universities and overseas universities controlled by foreign governments. They were widely viewed as targeting Chinese universities.
Security agencies have also repeatedly flagged their concerns. ASIO boss Mike Burgess warned earlier this year that the scale of foreign interference in universities was higher than at any time since the Cold War.
Under the current draft, which has been seen by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, the guidelines include a template of three "core declaration of interest questions" that universities must ask academic staff, including that they "outline any associations with foreign political, military, policing and/or security organisations". They must also declare whether they are receiving "any financial support (cash or in-kind) for research-related activities from a country outside Australia" and any "obligations that you have to any foreign institutions (including other academic bodies, research entities or private industry) or governments".
The draft stops short of imposing the same disclosure requirements on other university staff, including casuals and higher degree research students, proposing instead that the need for disclosures be "assessed based on risk level of activity."
Universities are also concerned about the potential legal complications of collecting such information from thousands of academics across every university, including whether it would breach anti-discrimination legislation or privacy laws. The guidelines contain no direction on what universities should do with the information once it has been collected.
One university executive described the measure as "McCarthyist", saying the guidelines had adopted "a sledgehammer, blanket approach" by requiring all academics to make disclosures on their overseas political links irrespective of risk.
"There's no sense of proportionality or any kind of risk profiling at all," the academic said.
"How is it possibly appropriate for this to apply across an entire university? You're requiring your lecturer in medieval poetry to declare her political affiliations and other foreign affiliations, in the same way that you would ask a researcher on missile guidance technology to disclose theirs."
The blanket disclosure approach means all foreign political links are captured, rather than those of particular interest to security agencies. For example, links to authoritarian governments, such as the Chinese Community Party must be disclosed, as must membership of British Labour or Conservative parties.
The Australian Research Council, which administers grant funding for research projects, has already adopted similar disclosure requirements. As first reported by The Australian, in its latest funding round the ARC required academics to disclose their affiliation with a "foreign government, foreign political party, foreign state-owned enterprise, foreign military or foreign policy organisation".
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My other blogs: Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com/ (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
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