A prestigious college at the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/oxford-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Oxford</a> announced Thursday that violating its new transgender harassment policy, including using the wrong pronouns, could lead to expulsion.
Regent’s Park College released a <a href="https://www.rpc.ox.ac.uk/trans-inclusion-statement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trans Inclusion Statement</a>, which outlines in detail what the college considers “transphobic harassment” and threatens offenders with severe penalties, including expulsion.
The statement declares, “Any unlawful discriminatory behaviour, including transphobic harassment or bullying of by individuals or groups, will be regarded extremely seriously and could be grounds for disciplinary action, which may include expulsion or dismissal.”
The college’s statement goes on to define “transphobia” broadly, including acts like “denying or disputing the validity and/or existence of a trans person’s identity,” “refusal to treat a person in accordance with their affirmed identity,” and “misgendering” by using “the wrong name or pronoun.”
The college further admits that “it is not possible to have a comprehensive definition of transphobia.” The college interprets the United Kingdom’s <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Equality Act of 2010</a> to forbid discrimination based on gender identity, even though the law uses the medical term “gender reassignment” rather than “gender identity” in its anti-discrimination language.
The Trans Inclusion Statement came out in the wake of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/may/30/trans-activists-disrupt-kathleen-stock-speech-at-oxford-union" target="_blank" rel="noopener">controversial talk</a> the college hosted given by “gender-critical feminist” <a href="https://twitter.com/Docstockk?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathleen Stock</a>, a former professor at the University of Sussex. Stock’s talk was heavily protested and even interrupted by a trans activist who glued her hands to the floor of the stage.
Stock promoted her book “Material Girls,” stating that she wants “trans people protected from violence and discrimination,” but that it was “not fair on females” to share spaces like bathrooms and changing rooms with biological men. She called for “third spaces” as a compromise.
At the end of its statement, the college briefly mentions how the Equality Act protects religious belief and states that it respects the right of “those holding gender-critical beliefs” with the qualification that their speech “does not constitute harassment as not respecting the rights and freedoms of others.”
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Despite the college’s ode to free speech and religious liberty, the language banning “denying or disputing the validity and/or existence of a trans person’s identity” was similar to the charges protesters threw at Stock a few days earlier.
One sign read, “Our existence is not a debate,” and protest leader Amaid Haran Diman said, “[Stock] wants to be the polite voice of a trans-exclusionary movement, but I don’t believe in her good faith. I don’t think she wants to have a civil conversation. If you look at her behaviour online it is very hostile. I think it is hateful and intolerant.”
The new policy at the University of Oxford college comes in the midst of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/court-rules-against-free-speech-group-upholds-virginia-tech-bias-policy">legal challenges</a> to colleges’ bias and harassment policies in the United States, highlighting the conflict between such policies and free speech principles.

Woman with hand over mouth

Oxford College Can Now Expel Students For Using The Wrong Pronouns

Education

Free Speech

Gender Pronouns

Oxford University

Transgender

United Kingdom

World

Professors at Oxford University are reportedly considering removing &#8220;colonialist&#8221; Western musical notation from the curriculum in an attempt to purge &#8220;white hegemony&#8221; from the oldest English-speaking university in the world.
&#8220;Academics are deconstructing the university&#8217;s music offering after facing pressure to &#8216;decolonise&#8217; the curriculum following the Black Lives Matter protests,&#8221; according internal documents obtained by <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/03/27/musical-notations-branded-colonialist-oxford-professors-hoping/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Telegraph</a>. Black Lives Matter protests spread to the United Kingdom after engulfing the United States following the death of George Floyd last May.
Professors reportedly claimed that the classical repertoire Oxford teaches, encompassing works from composers such as Mozart and Beethoven, is overly focused on &#8220;white European music from the slave period.&#8221;
The development of Western music predates the Atlantic slave trade.
“Teaching notation which has not ‘shaken off its connection to its colonial past’ would be a ‘slap in the face’ for some students, documents state, and music-writing studies have been earmarked for rebranding to be more inclusive,” the Telegraph further reported regarding the professors&#8217; discussions.
The academics reportedly further argued that learning musical skills, which has formed a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrivium" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">key part</a> of a well-rounded liberal arts education since the Middle Ages, should no longer be compulsory because it &#8220;structurally centres white European music,&#8221; which causes &#8220;students of colour great distress,&#8221; the Telegraph said.
A spokesperson for Oxford maintained in a statement to the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/oxford-might-scrap-sheet-music-amid-pressure-address-white-hegemony-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Washington Examiner</a>, however, that &#8220;there is no truth in the &#8216;sheet music&#8217; claim&#8221; and that such reports emerged from the musings of just one professor:
<blockquote>While retaining (and in no way diminishing) our traditional excellence in the critical analysis, history and performance of the broad range of western art music, we are exploring ways to enhance our students&#8217; opportunities to study a wider range of non-western and popular music from across the world than is currently on offer, as well as music composition, the psychology and sociology of music, music education, conducting, and much more. We look forward to sharing our curriculum in the coming months.</blockquote>
British author Douglas Murray, who attended Oxford&#8217;s Magdalen College, recently <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fox-nation-tucker-carlson-today-douglas-murray-woke-culture-oppression.amp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spoke</a> to Fox News host Tucker Carlson on his new show &#8220;Tucker Carlson Today&#8221; regarding the politicization of everything.
&#8220;The whole sense of what is important in our society has changed radically and in an ugly direction,&#8221; said Murray. &#8220;It makes everything political. It wants to politicize everything. It wants to politicize art. It wants to politicize poetry. All of the things that were meaningful in our lives have been picked up and spun through this cycle of politics.&#8221;
&#8220;And it’s boring, it’s ugly, and I think it’s the job of any sensible person to say, ‘I refute this. I refuse to join in this game. I refuse to have this vision of life. I have a better vision of life and how it should be lived.’ And we should assert that,” he added.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rapper-lil-nas-x-rolls-out-line-of-bloody-satan-shoes-to-coincide-with-new-song-about-demonic-sex" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rapper Lil Nas X Rolls Out Line Of Bloody ‘Satan Shoes’ To Coincide With New Song About Demonic Sex</a>

The score of a piano piece by Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) was found in a poetry notebook belonging to the German composer’s sister

Oxford University Might Scrap ‘Colonialist’ Musical Notation From Curriculum: Report

Cancel Culture

This year, we witnessed a truly unprecedented demonstration of medical and scientific prowess as multiple pharmaceutical companies developed effective COVID-19 vaccines in an unbelievable time span of just 10 months. However, not all vaccines are created equal. While the development of these vaccines exemplifies the scientific abilities of our civilization, the reaction towards the different vaccines also exemplifies the fundamental differences between free market and socialist medical systems.
United States: Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Expensive, but 95% effective.
Two COVID-19 vaccines were produced by American pharmaceutical companies. Both have been approved by American authorities, with distribution efforts currently ongoing. The first was produced by Pfizer and BioNTech, and the second was produced by Moderna.
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine “<a href="https://www.statnews.com/2020/12/19/a-side-by-side-comparison-of-the-pfizer-biontech-and-moderna-vaccines/">showed</a> efficacy of 95% at preventing symptomatic Covid infection,” and the Moderna vaccine is “94.1% effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19.”
Both require two doses, and both require “an elaborate cold chain.” The Pfizer vaccine “must be shipped and stored at -94 Fahrenheit,” while Moderna’s “must be shipped at -4 Fahrenheit,” the temperature of a standard refrigerator freezer. Pfizer’s vaccine must be used within five days of thawing, while Moderna’s can be stored at fridge temperature for 30 days or at room temperature for 12 hours.
According to the <a href="https://observer.com/2020/11/covid19-vaccine-price-pfizer-moderna-astrazeneca-oxford/">Observer</a>, Pfizer’s vaccine costs an estimated $20 per dose, and Moderna’s vaccine between $10 to $50 per dose. Shipping and storage requirements add further financial restraints.
United Kingdom: Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. 62% effective, but cheap!
On December 30th, the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZenenca — a British-Swedish pharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, England — was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55280671">approved</a> for use in the United Kingdom, with the first doses due to be given in early January.
Compared to the stunning 95% efficacy rate of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine “showed 62% effectiveness.” However, the Oxford vaccine is easier and therefore cheaper to store and distribute, as it can be “kept at normal fridge temperature.”
According to the Observer, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will cost under $4 per dose.
The difference between free market and socialized medicine.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, celebrated the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as “a triumph” for British science. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock declared, “This is a significant moment,” and said that the vaccine’s approval was “a huge British success story.”
The fact that what appears at the moment to be a vastly inferior vaccine is being described as a “triumph” says everything you need to know.
In the COVID-19 vaccine market, customers have three options. Two are more expensive and logistically complicated vaccines which provide a stunning efficacy rate of approximately 95%. The other option is a cheaper vaccine which will provide less of a logistical challenge, of which more than 1 in 3 will be ineffective.
Many on the Left want to emulate the British medical system — the golden calf of the National Health Service (NHS) — by “providing” American citizens with “free healthcare.” Those who support this notion should compare the systems of the United States and the United Kingdom — and how they are approaching vaccination against COVID-19 — and think again.
In the United States, under a (largely) free market system where quality is ensured through competition and private enterprise, the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are being distributed. Yes, they’re expensive. Yes, they’re complicated. But yes, they work — very well.
In the United Kingdom, under a government controlled medical system devoid of choice, competition, or quality control, which vaccine is being distributed? Not the expensive vaccines which work 95% of the time! No, the British government have embraced the “easier” option which works 62% of the time. In other words, the cheap vaccine which doesn’t work 38% of the time. 
Health Secretary Matt Hancock even boasted about the affordability of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in Parliament.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The <a href="https://twitter.com/UniofOxford?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UniofOxford</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/AstraZeneca?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AstraZeneca</a> vaccine is affordable, can be stored at normal fridge temperature &amp; offers hope for the whole world.
Like so much else in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/coronavirus?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#coronavirus</a> pandemic response, it’s been a big team effort. <a href="https://t.co/zqamVHixLs">pic.twitter.com/zqamVHixLs</a>
&mdash; Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattHancock/status/1344324823573528576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
You couldn’t find simpler or more definitive evidence of why the attitudes which underpin the American medical system far surpass those of the United Kingdom — or indeed any other socialist (or socialist-esque) systems. 
For the United States, and other free market medical systems, the primary concern is the quality of care. In this context, a vaccine with a 95% efficacy rate is a triumph, while a 62% efficacy rate is a failure.
For the United Kingdom, and other socialist medical systems, the primary concern is keeping costs down. In this context, an expensive and effective vaccine is an extravagance, while a cheap and comparatively ineffective vaccine is a &#8220;triumph.&#8221;
If you support Medicare for All but would choose either of the American vaccines over the British vaccine, then you need to take a long hard look in the mirror.
Ian Haworth is host of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkPxdVsNp7k&amp;list=PLhi-aq-5DfuTQRVv1IOVMnA735vEYO0f5">The Ian Haworth Show</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E05t2L69Sks&amp;list=PLhi-aq-5DfuRHu5r0IV5qr4h2rBAV9oBd">The Truth in 60 Seconds</a>. Follow him on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/ighaworth">@ighaworth</a>.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

NHS Vaccine

American Healthcare Created Vaccines Which Are 95% Effective. The ‘Cheap’ Socialist Alternative Is 62% Effective.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Health Care

Medicare for All

Moderna

Pfizer

Oxford University scientists announced Monday that their experimental coronavirus vaccine prompted protective immune responses in hundreds of patients tested in an early trial.
In the test of the vaccine, given to 500 people starting in April, scientists said the shots produced &#8220;a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55 that lasted at least two months after they were immunized,&#8221; The <a href="https://apnews.com/fdd8be1fafa10b71d4de0dabbcd74bdf">Associated Press</a> reported.
“We are seeing good immune response in almost everybody,” said Dr. Adrian Hill, director of the Jenner Institute at Oxford University. “What this vaccine does particularly well is trigger both arms of the immune system,” he said. The research was published Monday in the journal Lancet.
&#8220;Hill said that neutralizing antibodies are produced — molecules which are key to blocking infection. In addition, the vaccine also causes a reaction in the body’s T-cells, which help by destroying cells that have been taken over by the virus,&#8221; the AP reported. &#8220;The experimental COVID-19 vaccine caused minor side effects like fever, chills and muscle pain more often than in those who got a control meningitis vaccine.&#8221;
“There’s increasing evidence that having a T-cell response as well as antibodies could be very important in controlling COVID-19,” Hill said. He suggested the immune response might be boosted after a second dose; in a small number of people, their trial tested two doses administered about four weeks apart.
Larger trials are planned, one involving about 10,000 people in the United Kingdom and another in the U.S., which would enroll about 30,000 people. Hill said Oxford is joining with drugmaker AstraZeneca to produce the vaccine worldwide, and that the company has committed to making 2 billion doses.
Last week, stocks soared following news that another new COVID-19 vaccine showed that it produced antibodies in all patients during a trial.
The surge followed news from Moderna, a pharmaceutical company that announced its coronavirus vaccine produced a “robust” immune response — meaning antibodies — in all 45 patients in its early stage human trial, according to data published in the peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine.
“No matter how you slice this, this is good news,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told The <a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/first-covid-19-vaccine-tested-in-us-produced-antibodies-in-all-patients-during-trial">Associated Press</a>.
“The hallmark of a vaccine is one that can actually mimic natural infection and induce the kind of response that you would get with natural infection. And it looks like, at least in this limited, small number of individuals, that is exactly what’s happening,” Fauci said. “The data really look quite good. There were no serious adverse events.”
The Moderna vaccine test began back in March, with 45 volunteers being injected twice, a month apart. Every one of the test subjects developed &#8220;neutralizing&#8221; antibodies in their bloodstream at levels about the same as people who had contracted COVID-19 and recovered, the Journal reported.
“This is an essential building block that is needed to move forward with the trials that could actually determine whether the vaccine does protect against infection,” said Dr. Lisa Jackson of the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute in Seattle, who led the study.
There were no serious side effects, the researchers said, but about half of the volunteers did report flu-like reactions, including headache, fatigue, chills, fever, and pain at the injection site. For those who suffered fever, it lasted just a day.

Coronavirus Covid-19 Vaccine

Oxford University COVID-19 Vaccine Prompts Immune Response In Early Test

COVID

As part of its operation “Operation Warp Speed,” which is intended to create a safe, effective vaccine for the coronavirus widely available to Americans by 2021, the U.S. government will pay as much as $1.2 billion so a vaccine developed in England could be available by October.
The funds given to AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s Jenner Institute will help pay for a 30,000-person vaccine trial in the U.S. to begin this summer as well as the capacity to make at least 300 million doses. Alex Azar, the Health and Human Services secretary, <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2020/05/21/trump-administration-accelerates-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-to-be-available-beginning-in-october.html">stated</a>:
<blockquote>This contract with AstraZeneca is a major milestone in Operation Warp Speed’s work toward a safe, effective, widely available vaccine by 2021. Getting a vaccine to the American public as soon as possible is one part of President Trump’s multi-faceted strategy for safely reopening our country and bringing life back to normal, which is essential to Americans’ physical and mental well-being in so many ways. The Trump Administration is making multiple major investments in developing and manufacturing promising vaccines long before they’re approved so that a successful vaccine will reach the American people without a day wasted.</blockquote>
“The vaccine in question was developed by the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute and is one of a small group of candidates already being tested in humans. Others include vaccines from <a href="https://quotes.wsj.com/PFE">Pfizer</a> Inc.and <a href="https://quotes.wsj.com/MRNA">Moderna</a> Inc. AstraZeneca, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/oxford-university-astrazeneca-join-forces-for-coronavirus-vaccine-11588249734?mod=article_inline">under a licensing deal with Oxford</a>, has responsibility for manufacturing the university’s vaccine, and has promised to sell the vaccine without making a profit during the pandemic,” <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-to-invest-1-2-billion-to-secure-potential-coronavirus-vaccine-from-astrazeneca-oxford-university-11590063053?mod=searchresults&amp;page=1&amp;pos=4">The Wall Street Journal</a> (WSJ) reported.
The AstraZeneca deal is not the only deal the U.S. government has made to expedite the development of a vaccine; <a href="https://quotes.wsj.com/JNJ">Johnson &amp; Johnson</a> received $456 million to increase production of its potential vaccine to 300 million doses; Moderna received $483 million for a similar reason. WSJ cautioned, “Many promising drugs and vaccines falter during clinical trials.”
Oxford has already begun testing its vaccine on people; an 1,100-person study began in April, and if its results look promising, U.K. trial will test roughly 10,000 participants starting in June. The Journal noted:
<blockquote>Its vaccine has progressed quickly, in part because it uses a technology that has been deployed in earlier vaccines developed by the university. It uses an inactivated chimpanzee virus containing the genetic sequence for the “spike protein” found on the new coronavirus.
In a small animal study, not yet peer-reviewed, it appeared to stop the virus from spreading to the lungs, protecting the inoculated monkeys from developing pneumonia. It was unclear whether the vaccine stopped infection entirely, however, as the vaccinated monkeys tested positive for virus in their noses.</blockquote>
Bloomberg News reported, &#8220;A smaller part of the trial will expand the age range of testing to children from 5 to 12 years old and adults 56 and older, according to a <a title="Link to website" href="http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-05-22-oxford-covid-19-vaccine-begin-phase-iiiii-human-trials" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">statement</a>. The other, larger stage will test the vaccine’s effectiveness in volunteers 18 and older.&#8221; Bloomberg added, &#8220;Adult subjects in the studies will be randomly chosen to receive one or two doses of the Oxford candidate or an already licensed vaccine against meningococcus for comparison. The volunteers will be recruited across the U.K. and will record their reactions in an e-diary and attend some follow-up visits. Some will be given swabs for taking samples at home.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

President Trump Meets With His Cabinet At The White House

U.S. Gives $1.2 Billion To U.K. Attempt At Vaccine, 300 Million Doses Could Be Ready By October

Alex Azar

A female professor who “teaches on the women’s studies masters course at University of Oxford,” according to Huffington Post,” published an <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/coronavirus-vaccine_uk_5ea067f2c5b6b2e5b83ba372?guccounter=1&amp;guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9uYXRpb25hbGZpbGUuY29tL3Byb2Zlc3Nvci13YW50cy10by1sb3NlLWNvdmlkLTE5LXZhY2NpbmUtcmFjZS10b28tbWFueS13aGl0ZS1tYWxlLXJlc2VhcmNoZ">opinion piece</a> in HuffPo over the weekend in which she asserted a litany of reasons that she did not want the Oxford scientists to be successful in creating a coronavirus vaccine, among them a renewed feeling of British patriotism and her fear that “being white, male and Oxford-educated may not be the only criteria for effective leadership.”
Dr. Emily Cousens began her polemic by noting that despite the fact that her 72-year-old father is worried he won’t be able to resume a normal life until there is a vaccine, she worries that if Oxford is successful, “The vaccine, developed by our finest brains, is ours. And it will be Britons who are prioritised for protection. If there is enough vaccine to go round, the UK will be the world’s saviour.”
She continues by pontificating, “We’ll forget the lessons that the pandemic has taught us so far: that the UK and the US are in fact not exceptions at the global stage. That we are not only vulnerable but can also afford to learn lessons from countries, regardless of whether we have a special relationship with them – such as South Korea. That being white, male and Oxford-educated may not be the only criteria for effective leadership (the countries whose responses have been <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2020/04/13/what-do-countries-with-the-best-coronavirus-reponses-have-in-common-women-leaders/#687fbad3dec4" data-rapid-elm="context_link" data-ylk="elm:context_link" data-rapid-sec="{&quot;entry-text&quot;:&quot;entry-text&quot;}" data-rapid_p="4" data-v9y="1">most widely praised</a>, Germany and New Zealand among others, are all led by women).”
Cousens posits that the Chinese Communist government has been a vital part of developing a vaccine, adding, “It is clear, then, that international co-operation saves lives.”
Then she moans, “But do our Oxford-educated leaders think like this? Coronavirus is a global epidemic. Yet, rather than motivating the UK to take a proud role at the global stage, as leaders like Macron have urged, the UK is increasingly resorting to patriotism in response.”
More:
<blockquote>This war-time rhetoric is useful in instilling a sense that this is a moment when individuals need to make sacrifices and put the country first. But this time, the enemy is not a nation. It is a microbe. So why do our collective solidarities end at the border? The race is on and researchers at Oxford are doing vital, life-saving work. But races have winners and losers. If my university is the first to develop the vaccine, I’m worried that it will be used as it has been in the past, to fulfil its political, patriotic function as proof of British excellence.</blockquote>
Her conclusion? “The story will be clear: China, once again, has unleashed a threat to civilisation. But the best brains of the UK have saved the world.”
How horrible.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">subscriber</a>.  
&nbsp;

Wales Daily Life 2020

British Women’s Studies Professor: I Don’t Want Oxford’s Vaccine To Succeed. Too Much Patriotism And White Men.

According to Oxford University scientists at the Jenner Institute assiduously working on developing a vaccine for the coronavirus COVID-19, the newest developments point to a strong possibility that they may have a vaccine ready by September, rather than sometime in 2021.
<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/27/world/europe/coronavirus-vaccine-update-oxford.html">The New York Times</a> reports, “Most other teams have had to start with small clinical trials of a few hundred participants to demonstrate safety. But scientists at the university’s <a href="https://www.jenner.ac.uk/">Jenner Institute</a> had a head start on a vaccine, having proved in previous trials that similar inoculations — including one last year against an earlier coronavirus — were harmless to humans.”
Thus the Oxford team will be able to test over 6,000 people by the end of next month; last week a Phase I clinical trial with 1,100 people was initiated; next month a combined Phase II and Phase III trial involving another 5,000 will follow.
Emilio Emini, a director of the vaccine program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, enthused, “It is a very, very fast clinical program.” He also cautioned that more than one vaccine would be necessary, as the effects of one vaccine may vary due to various age groups. But he also pointed out that even if the vaccine proves successful, “This big U.K. study is actually going to translate to learning a lot about some of the others as well.”
Dr. Vincent Munster, who conducted the test along with other scientists at the National Institutes of Health’s <a style="font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;" href="https://www.niaid.nih.gov/about/rocky-mountain-overview">Rocky Mountain Laboratory</a> in Montana in March said that all six rhesus macaque monkeys who were inoculated with the Oxford vaccine, then exposed to heavy doses of the virus were healthy 28 days later, adding, “The rhesus macaque is pretty much the closest thing we have to humans.”
Munster said the next steps are to share the finding with other scientists, then let a peer-reviewed journal examine them.
The Times explained, “The institute’s effort against the coronavirus uses a technology that centers on altering the genetic code of a familiar virus. A classic vaccine uses a weakened version of a virus to trigger an immune response. But in the technology that the institute is using, a different virus is modified first to neutralize its effects and then to make it mimic the one scientists seek to stop — in this case, the virus that causes Covid-19. Injected into the body, the harmless impostor can induce the immune system to fight and kill the targeted virus, providing protection.”
Prof. Adrian Hill, the Jenner Institute’s director, noted that manufacturing companies across Europe and Asia are preparing to produce billions of doses of the Oxford vaccine if it proves successful, and that none of them had exclusive marketing rights, yet no North American manufacturer has currently signed on. He surmised that one possible reason may be because they typically demand exclusive worldwide rights before they will invest in a medicine. He commented, “I personally don’t believe that in a time of pandemic there should be exclusive licenses. So we are asking a lot of them. Nobody is going to make a lot of money off this.”
Hill stated that success would be achieved if up to 12 participants who take a placebo contract the virus while one or two given the inoculation remain virus-free. He asserted, “Then we have a party and tell the world,” adding that the placebo-takers would hen immediately receive the vaccine.
On Sunday, Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of Serum Institute India (SII), the world&#8217;s largest producer of vaccines, stated, “Our team has been working closely with Dr. Hill from Oxford University, and we are expecting to initiate production of the vaccine in 2-3 weeks and produce 5 million doses per month for the first six months, following which we hope to scale up production to 10 million doses per month, according to the <a href="https://www.deccanchronicle.com/science/science/260420/indian-firm-to-test-covid-vaccine-in-3-weeks-if-successful-drug-won.html?utm_source=vuukle&amp;utm_medium=talk_of_town">Deccan Chronicle</a>.
Poonwalla continued, &#8220;We expect the (COVID-19) vaccine to be out in the market by September-October, only if the trials are successful with the requisite safety and assured efficacy. We will be starting trials in India for this vaccine hopefully over the next 2-3 weeks&#8217; time … Following that, we have undertaken the decision to initiate manufacturing at our own risk. The decision has been solely taken to have a jump-start on manufacturing, to have enough doses available, if the clinical trials prove successful … Keeping the current situation in mind, we have funded this endeavor at a personal capacity and hopefully will be able to enlist the support of other partners to further scale-up vaccine production.”
He concluded, &#8220;We will not patent Serum&#8217;s vaccine for COVID-19 and will make it available for all to produce and sell, not just in India but across the world … I hope that whichever company develops the vaccine does not get it patented and makes it available based on royalties or a commercial understanding to as many manufacturers across the world to make billions of dosages at a fast pace.”
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Dreaming Spires Deferred: Oxford Empties Amid Coronavirus Lockdown

Oxford University: Tests Show Our Vaccine May Be Ready By September

It’s so much easier to protest when you aren’t the one having to make any sacrifices.
Oxford students learned this the hard way when they demanded St. John’s College sell off its investments in BP and Shell. Two students wrote to bursar (the man in charge of financial affairs) Andrew Parker demanding the college “declares a climate emergency and immediately divests from fossil fuels,” The Times of London <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/professor-at-st-johns-college-oxford-turns-oil-row-into-a-heated-debate-0zr2wpmb5">reported</a>. The two students claimed the college has about $10 million invested in the two oil companies.
Parker responded by presenting the students with a philosophical dilemma.
“I am not able to arrange any divestment at short notice,” he wrote back to the students. “But I can arrange for the gas central heating in college to be switched off with immediate effect. Please let me know if you support this proposal.” From the Times:
Ankit Ranjan, a biomedicine undergraduate, wrote back saying that he was willing to put the offer to the students but he suspected the bursar was being facetious. He added: “I think [the offer] will reflect poorly on the college.”
Professor Parker replied: “You are right that I am being provocative but I am provoking some clear thinking, I hope. It is all too easy to request others to do things that carry no personal cost to yourself. The question is whether you and others are prepared to make personal sacrifices to achieve the goals of environmental improvement (which I support as a goal).”
Fergus Green, who is organizing the wider protest at the school, responded harshly to Parker’s offer.
“This is an inappropriate and flippant response by the bursar to what we were hoping would be a mature discussion. It’s January and it would be borderline dangerous to switch off the central heating,” he told the Times.
Green is a graduate student at Balliol College, which last week said it would reduce its investments in fossil fuels “as far and as fast as is practicable.”
Parker told the Times that his offer was “more of a rhetorical question” and that more could be done to help the environment “if everyone stops and thinks before emitting slogans.”
“Internally we are actually having the analysis and debate that is needed. On disinvestment, there are arguments both ways. As soon as we disinvest, we lose any shareholder pressure that we might have had,” he added.
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-heated-oxford-education-11580680180">called</a> Parker’s response “a worthy lesson applicable far beyond the colleges of Oxford.”
“When most people think of Oxford, what comes to mind are images of bright minds debating quantum physics or the existence of God. But even the brainiest sometimes need a lesson in common sense,” the editorial board wrote.
One sees this as a common thread among climate activists, who so often insist others change their lifestyle drastically while they themselves so nothing. Celebrities are the worst at this kind of dialogue, taking private planes around the world to tell others &#8212; those less fortunate than they &#8212; to cut back on their carbon footprint.

Climate protesters

Oxford Students Demand School Sell Fossil Fuel Shares, Administrator Fires Back Hard.

Climate Change

Oxford University&#8217;s student union has instituted an unofficial ban on clapping during student functions over fears the loud noise may trigger anxiety and the rapid hand movements and noise could alienate students who are unable or unwilling to clap.
<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7605991/Snowflake-students-Oxford-University-latest-demand-clapping-banned.html">The Daily Mail reports</a> that students and faculty are instead being encouraged to use &#8220;jazz hands&#8221; and other silent means of assent, and to explore using alternatives to clapping for meetings and gatherings.
The edict came from Oxford&#8217;s Student Union, which claims to be leading the way to a more &#8220;inclusive&#8221; environment at the thousand-year-old institute of higher learning in Britain.
&#8220;The first Student Council meeting of the academic year, yesterday, passed the motion to mandate the Sabbatical Officers to encourage the use of British Sign Language (BSL) clapping, otherwise known as ‘silent jazz hands’ at Student Council meetings and other official SU events,&#8221; <a href="https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2019/10/23/su-adopts-bsl-clapping-to-replace-traditional-applause/">a statement from the Oxford Student Council read</a>.
They continued, &#8220;BSL clapping is used by the National Union of Students since loud noises, including whooping and traditional applause, are argued to present an access issue for some disabled students who have anxiety disorders, sensory sensitivity, and/or those who use hearing impairment aids.&#8221;
The statement briefly mentions that the New York Times believes &#8220;snapping is the new clapping,&#8221; but it seems the Oxford Student Union passed on the opportunity to incorporate snapping fingers as one of its alternative motions of assent, possibly because snapping fingers might also be triggering to or exclusive of some students.
The statement concludes with an action statement, mandating that Student Council members use &#8220;jazz hands&#8221; in official meetings and at events, and encouraging Student Union officers to press Oxford University to adopt the &#8220;inclusive&#8221; jazz hands policy across the board: &#8220;As well as mandating the Sabbatical Officers to encourage the use of jazz hands at Student Council, the motion also mandates Sabbatical Officers to ‘lobby the University’ to use jazz hands in place of applause at University and college level events, with an explanation of why the change is important.&#8221;
As <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/completely-ludicrous-oxford-bans-clapping-for-being-an-anxiety-trigger-and-suggests-jazz-hands-instead">the Washington Examiner points out</a>, Oxford University has been in operation since the 1050s, and is one of the oldest and most storied institutions of higher learning in the world. However, its centuries long record of scholarly pursuits and rigorous intellectualism was no match for trendy social justice warrior-ism.
Oxford is the second such university in the UK to adopt the &#8220;ban&#8221; on applause; the other, Manchester University, passed a similar rule last year. The Oxford Student Union makes clear, in their statement, that they were inspired by Manchester&#8217;s courageous students.
Unfortunately for both Oxford and Manchester, their proposed &#8220;jazz hands&#8221; alternative to clapping may not be the clean, social justice option they believe it to be. None other than UK television presented Piers Morgan weighed in on Twitter, pointing out that &#8220;jazz hands&#8221; appears to be a racially charged term and that a solely visual means of declaring assent excludes the blind and disabled &#8212; and also that the Oxford Student Union is a bunch of &#8220;imbeciles.&#8221;
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H <a href="https://twitter.com/OxfordSU_WEO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OxfordSU_WEO</a>, re your ban on clapping to stop students with anxiety being triggered, &amp; use of silent &#39;jazz hands&#39; instead.. a) Performing &#39;jazz hands&#39; is racist. b) Your new rule excludes blind people, so will make them feel marginalised. c) Grow a pair you imbeciles.
&mdash; Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) <a href="https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/1187348107836579840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The Student Council, though, says it remains committed to its decision. &#8220;The policy was proposed in order to encourage the use of British Sign Language clapping during our democratic events to make those events more accessible and inclusive for all, including people who suffer from anxiety,&#8221; one Student Council officer said in a statement. &#8220;Inclusivity is one of the Students&#8217; Union&#8217;s founding principles.&#8221;

Oxford

Oxford University Student Council Bans Clapping Over Fears It May Trigger Anxiety

Adult film star and exotic dancer Stormy Daniels says that her interactions with President Donald Trump &#8212; and her foray into politics &#8212; has &#8220;completely ruined&#8221; her pornography career.
<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/stormy-daniels-politics-and-trump-have-completely-destroyed-my-career-1218238?fbclid=IwAR3LZudjNicTcCWXFXz-1tNdkSKCkiXp4KskG0PTroWSUzvQKJfmEZgXog8">Speaking Friday at the Oxford Union</a> at an event called &#8220;Sex, Guns and Other Fluff: How Porn Can Set You Free,&#8221; Daniels told the audience that she&#8217;s been so focused on her political career that she&#8217;s had to take a ten-month break from writing new adult films &#8212; her favorite part of her now-on-hold career.
&#8220;I had no idea what I was getting myself into,&#8221; Daniels said. &#8220;Nor would I realize what a huge impact the circus would have, not only on my life, but the rest of the world.&#8221;
But she isn&#8217;t calling time on her adult film career, by any stretch. Daniels added that she will &#8220;probably never leave the adult film industry,&#8221; because, ultimately, pornography is her passion and she has a part in every aspect of production. &#8220;I write the script down, I do the budget, I do the shoot schedule, I pick out the wardrobe,&#8221; she added.
Daniels has had a strange several months. Along with her celebrity attorney, Michael Avenatti, Daniels has waged a public war against President Donald Trump, accusing Trump and his own attorney, Michael Cohen, of offering her an inappropriate &#8220;payoff&#8221; ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
She and Avenatti also sued Trump for defamation, a case she and Avenatti recently lost, costing them thousands of dollars in legal fees.
Last week, Michael Avenatti was arrested in Los Angeles for what the Los Angeles Police Department termed an incident of &#8220;domestic violence.&#8221; Avenatti reportedly got into an altercation with a former girlfriend, which spilled out into a Los Angeles street. Avenatti denied the allegations &#8212; and that the incident happened &#8212; and instead blamed rumors of his arrest on an internet conspiracy.
Daniels said late last week that she would give Avenatti the benefit of the doubt on the domestic violence charge, and that she would wait to see the evidence against Avenatti before replacing him as her lead counsel, telling reporters that &#8220;right now they&#8217;re just allegations and I&#8217;m gonna reserve judgment.&#8221;
She repeated that sentiment Friday night. &#8220;If the allegations turn out to be true,&#8221; she said, &#8220;then I will definitely be seeking new representation.&#8221;
Daniels&#8217; appearance at the Oxford Union may seem unusual, but it comes at the beginning of an extended &#8220;free speech&#8221; event that will conclude next Friday with a speech from former Breitbart editor and Trump administration senior official, Steve Bannon.
Daniels is currently on a global tour of prominent adult entertainment clubs, tied closely to her political activism.

Stormy Daniels Says Trump Has ‘Ruined’ Her Career

Michael Avenatti

Stormy Daniels

Here&#8217;s a classic example of feminism&#8217;s fanaticism boomeranging.
A female associate professor of political theory at the University of Oxford in Great Britain took umbrage after a woman cleaner was asked to remove graffiti stating &#8220;Happy International Women&#8217;s Day&#8221; on International Women&#8217;s Day. The graffiti appeared to be written in chalk on the steps of the Clarendon Building in Broad Street.
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Oxford security makes a woman cleaner scrub out &#8220;Happy International Women&#8217;s Day&#8221; on the Clarendon steps. What an image for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IWD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IWD</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/UniofOxford?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UniofOxford</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/strikeforUSS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#strikeforUSS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UCUstrike?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UCUstrike</a> <a href="https://t.co/E9u5S37hWW">pic.twitter.com/E9u5S37hWW</a>
&#8212; Sophie Smith (@DrSophieSmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrSophieSmith/status/971714934819184640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The university promptly bent the knee:
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We are deeply sorry for this and for offence caused. International Women&#8217;s Day is hugely important to Oxford. This should not have happened.
&#8212; Oxford University (@UniofOxford) <a href="https://twitter.com/UniofOxford/status/971734146803470336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Smith was still unsatisfied:
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I appreciate your apology, but far more importantly can you please make sure that the woman asked to remove the message receives a heartfelt apology, a warm cup of tea, the rest of the day off and, along with all our precarious staff, good enough pay to live in this city.
&#8212; Sophie Smith (@DrSophieSmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrSophieSmith/status/971735213071065090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
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There were critics of Smith&#8217;s perspective:
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Wait.. you&#8217;re offended, on behalf of another woman, who&#8217;s being asked to do her job? She may not get paid for going home. Good work.
&#8212; Tommy Williams (@tommydubz) <a href="https://twitter.com/tommydubz/status/971743305447944193?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Irony is all I deduce from this. I understand it&#8217;s in better taste to delegate this role to a male cleaner but none may have been available. The woman may have even laughed at this! What if man power were written on the wall and a male cleaner was assigned? Would anyone comment?
&#8212; Kevin Gaddi (@gaddi_kevin) <a href="https://twitter.com/gaddi_kevin/status/971799493405487104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Please explain this to me&#8230; what is her job at the university? Why does she need an apology? Did she ask for the apology? Tomorrow, will she go to work and not clean? (Sincerely) Am I missing something?
&#8212; goyo (@gschmittmusic) <a href="https://twitter.com/gschmittmusic/status/972088199005732864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Why don&#8217;t you pay her Directly from your pocket Sophie? She sounds like she was doing her job to me. Or better yet why don&#8217;t you just have Oxford pay her a portion of your salary?
&#8212; Luke Daniel (@Daddy_Luke5) <a href="https://twitter.com/Daddy_Luke5/status/972122552595369985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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When I do my job at work no ine comes by and gives me tea and the day off. But Im a man so its not important. Good to know the left wants to keep things equal in tbe workplace
&#8212; glitchZ (@Glitchfaction1) <a href="https://twitter.com/Glitchfaction1/status/972136171815030785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Oh Sophie please! Talk about overcompensating for all the ppl you should&#8217;ve hugged in life but didn&#8217;t!
&#8212; Brian Reid (@realBrianReid) <a href="https://twitter.com/realBrianReid/status/972171802263859200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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I made a lot of money and enjoyed it when I ran my small cleaning company. Get a grip Sophie
&#8212; HappyHippy1959 (@1st_bn_glosters) <a href="https://twitter.com/1st_bn_glosters/status/972108548502155265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
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FEMINIST FAIL: Oxford University Forced To Apologize For Having Woman Erase International Women’s Day Graffiti

Feminism

According to a <a href="http://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/93/2018/02/Polarization-Partisanship-JunkNews.pdf">new study</a> from the University of Oxford that examined &#8220;Junk News Consumption,&#8221; numerous conservative news outlets were disparaged as &#8220;unprofessional,&#8221; &#8220;counterfeit,&#8221; &#8220;biased,&#8221; and &#8220;emotionally driven.&#8221;
The study, part of the <a href="http://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/">Computational Propaganda Research Project</a>, was ostensibly supposed to ascertain &#8220;what kinds of social media users read junk news?&#8221; These criteria were used to ascertain whether the sites offered &#8220;junk news&#8221;:
<blockquote>
Professionalism: These outlets do not employ the standards and best practices of professional journalism. They refrain from providing clear information about real authors, editors, publishers and owners. They lack transparency, accountability, and do not publish corrections on debunked information.
Style: These outlets use emotionally driven language with emotive expressions, hyperbole, ad hominem attacks, misleading headlines, excessive capitalization, unsafe generalizations and fallacies, moving images, graphic pictures and mobilizing memes.
Credibility: These outlets rely on false information and conspiracy theories, which they often employ strategically. They report without consulting multiple sources and do not employ fact-checking methods. Their sources are often untrustworthy and their standards of news production lack credibility.
Bias: Reporting in these outlets is highly biased and ideologically skewed, which is otherwise described as hyper-partisan reporting. These outlets frequently present opinion and commentary essays as news.
Counterfeit: These outlets mimic professional news media. They counterfeit fonts, branding and stylistic content strategies. Commentary and junk content is stylistically disguised as news, with references to news agencies, and credible sources, and headlines written in a news tone, with bylines, date, time and location stamps.
</blockquote>
The study&#8217;s results suggest that the authors might have had a tiny bit of bias; the study stated, &#8220;On Twitter, the Trump Support Group shares 95% of the junk news sites on the watch list, and accounted for 55% of junk news traffic in the sample. Other kinds of audiences shared content from these junk news sources, but at much lower levels. On Facebook, the Hard Conservative Group shares 91% of the junk news sites on the watch list, and accounted for 58% of junk news traffic in the sample.&#8221;
The study also seemed surprised that conservatives don&#8217;t get their news from &#8220;mainstream media sources.&#8221; It stated:
<blockquote>
The social networks mapped from public Twitter and Facebook data show that the junk political news and information was concentrated among Trump&#8217;s supporters. The two main political parties, Democrats and Republicans, prefer different sources of political news, with limited overlap. For instance, the Democratic Party shows high levels of engagement with mainstream media sources and the Republican Party with Conservative Media Groups.
</blockquote>
 H/T <a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/corinne-weaver/2018/02/06/oxford-university-study-smears-conservative-news-sites-junk">Newsbusters</a>

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