Monday, March 14, 2022



CDC and AAP Congratulate Themselves for Wrecking Children’s Literacy

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now patting itself on the back for its excellent call to mask students in grades K-12. The CDC specifically capitalized on a study that used the state of Arkansas’s schools as a study group. Forgive us in advance, but we have questions about The Science™.

According to this report, the masks were proven to be effective in reducing the spread of COVID-19 in schools. The CDC isn’t the only one crowing with triumph — the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) also published a study that is a little more thorough. The AAP study discussed the data its researchers and scientists gleaned from 61 schools across nine states.

Upon a cursory inspection, it would seem that the data does confirm the studies’ premise … that is until you bother to read in depth the limitations.

Here were a few of the most telling “limitations” for both studies.

They relied on contact tracing.

They had shifting variables that influenced the numbers, such as schools changing masking policies based on whether the cases were high in their area.

Both studies were conducted on one strain of COVID-19, and that strain was Delta. This is pertinent because, with the advent of Omicron, contact tracing wasn’t possible. The spread was too fast. It also makes this data irrelevant since the virus is unlikely to revert back to Delta or Alpha settings.

Ultimately, the CDC and AAP taking credit for this “victory” in masking our children is petty in light of the lack of information (i.e., Omicron threw a wrench in the mix). Plus, the seriously damaging results that masking has had on children’s education in general and literacy in particular speak more toward the “cure” being worse than the disease.

We cannot emphasize this enough. Our children lost so much ground between lockdowns, masking, and virtual schooling. It is unlikely for them to regain all that ground. Their mental, emotional, and academic well-being were sacrificed at the altar of “the greater good.” For the CDC and AAP to even dare to justify their ridiculous stance on masking kids is an insult to our intelligence.

The CDC and the AAP aren’t the only organizations trying to justify their decision-making regarding masking children in this pandemic. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), wrote in a social media post (grammar in the original): “We are so glad that masks are coming off with the drop in Covid and in accordance with CDC guidelines. These new studies make clear if —our teachers and students ever need them again to keep communities safe and classrooms open, they work.”

This statement reads more like a threat in light of how Weingarten has used political thuggery and undue influence during this crisis. Never forget, she was not above holding our children hostage in order to push her agenda. It’s also ludicrous because of Omicron, the infection rate of which revealed masking to be merely a virtue signal — or, to quote CNN’s medical analyst Leana Wen, “facial decorations.”

The pandemic really did expose a lot of the dark underbelly of schools. But the gaslighting continues. These “studies” are yet another example of politics dictating science.

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Stanford University cancels $1.7M Russian contract

Stanford University is terminating what appears to be the last remaining active Russian contract among colleges in the United States after Fox News reached out for details and comment on the arrangement.

Stanford entered into a $1.65 million agreement with an unidentified Russian entity in December 2020, a search of the College Foreign Gift and Contract Report database shows. The three-year agreement contains sparse details, though it notes the funding did not come from the Kremlin.

The contract is for "online access to business-related professional development courses" and is in "full compliance" with U.S. sanctions, Dee Mostofi, Stanford's assistant vice president for external communications, told Fox News on Thursday.

On Friday, however, Mostofi emailed Fox News saying Stanford now "is in the process of ending the contract."

Mostofi did not address other questions on the contract, including who in Russia was involved and whether the university plans to take up Russian contracts in the future.

Then-Education Secretary Betsy DeVos "found that there was almost $7 billion given to universities that were not being reported by the university to the federal government as required by law," Rep. Virginia Foxx, the top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, told Fox News.

"Most people give money for a reason," the North Carolina Republican said. "It's generally accepted that they are looking for ways to influence what is happening in the colleges and universities."

The Department of Education in 2020 discovered $6.5 billion in previously unreported foreign money to universities from adversarial countries, including China and Russia.

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign also reports an active Russian contract in the foreign money database. The records show the agreement began in October 2014 and runs through June 2022.

However, a University of Illinois spokesperson told Fox News it was a fee-for-service agreement to "provide DNA sequencing services" to the Russia-based Evrogen Lab that concluded last month.

"The last samples analyzed under that agreement were received and analyzed in February," the spokesperson said. "We are not accepting any new samples for analysis under this contract."

Other universities have also cut student, research and financial ties from Russia, distancing them from the authoritarian superpower.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology severed a research partnership with the Kremlin, and the University of Colorado is liquidating investments in Russian companies, Forbes reported. The Arizona Board of Regents told the institutions it oversees – Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University – to sell off their Russian assets, NBC News reported.

Other schools, like Middlebury College, are suspending study abroad programs in Russia.

Like many universities, Stanford also runs a program that sends students to Russia.

The program, called the Stanford U.S.-Russia Forum, describes itself as the "world's only independent research organization that bring students and young professionals from the United States and Russia together to foster understanding between the cultures, share the knowledge, and gain experience in doing collaborative research."

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Single picture costs Australian university $16 million as funding pulled over ‘unacceptable’ decision

image from https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/e9c6811976be4f78cb1233ccd4fe01f0

Last week, the university handed out its latest round of honorary doctorates and a photo of it circulated online. But critics couldn’t help but notice one glaring detail in the picture – the six recipients were all white men.

On Monday, this prompted the Snow Medical Research Foundation, which has given $24 million to Melbourne University in recent years, to immediately halt any further funding programs.

That included suspending its Snow Fellowship program, of which $16 million had already been pledged to the university.

“The University of Melbourne awarded their most prestigious award, their honorary doctorate, to six white men,” Snow Medical said in a statement.

“Further, in the last three years, not a single honorary doctorate has been awarded to women or someone of non-white descent. This is unacceptable.”

When Snow Medical challenged the uni about its recent spate of awards, “the response from the University of Melbourne has been unsatisfactory,” it added.

“While it appears the policies on gender equality and diversity are in place, the outcomes do not align with the University’s stated goals.”

The organisation’s founder and chair, Tom Snow, said it was a “difficult decision” but ultimately a necessary one to suspend funding indefinitely.

“This has been a difficult decision for our family, but a decision we have made very proudly,” he said online.

“NOW is the time for action on gender equality and diversity.”

Mr Snow himself attended the University of Melbourne as a student in the 1990s and his foundation has given out $90 million in research funding to date, to a number of universities and various research projects.

The current $16 million in place will still be provided to researchers, the foundation clarified, in a bid to “provide long-term certainty”.

Melbourne University admitted it had a lot of room for improvement but was obviously disappointed by the decision.

“The University of Melbourne is committed to strengthening a vibrant and inclusive community where diversity is recognised, valued and celebrated,” it said in a statement.

“While we acknowledge the areas where we need to improve, Snow Medical has made their decision on the basis of a single honorary doctorate event.

“This event is not a true reflection of who we are as a university and the steps we are taking, and continue to take, to build a diverse university community, reflective of broader society.”

Three women and an Indigenous man were meant to be at the ceremony as well but were unable to make it.

Mr Snow said he was unimpressed and wondered why they didn’t delay the ceremony until everyone could attend.

“Not one person along the way said, ‘It’s not right, we should be deferring the ceremony,’” he said.

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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)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

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