Sunday, June 14, 2020
Fifty-four scientists have lost their jobs as a result of NIH probe into foreign ties
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| The National Institutes of Health has been investigating grantees suspected of not disclosing their links to foreign institutions, notably in China. |
Some 54 scientists have resigned or been fired as a result of an ongoing investigation by the National Institutes of Health into the failure of NIH grantees to disclose financial ties to foreign governments. In 93% of those cases, the hidden funding came from a Chinese institution.
The new numbers come from Michael Lauer, NIH’s head of extramural research. Lauer had previously provided some information on the scope of NIH’s investigation, which had targeted 189 scientists at 87 institutions. But his presentation today to a senior advisory panel offered by far the most detailed breakout of an effort NIH launched in August 2018 that has roiled the U.S. biomedical community, and resulted in criminal charges against some prominent researchers, including Charles Lieber, chair of Harvard University’s department of chemistry and chemical biology.
“It’s not what we had hoped, and it’s not a fun task,” NIH Director Francis Collins said in characterizing the ongoing investigation. He called the data “sobering.”
In the vast majority of cases, Lauer reported, the person being investigated has been an Asian man in his 50s. Some three-quarters of those under investigation had active NIH grants, and nearly half had at least two grants. The 285 active grants totaled $164 million.
Lauer also presented data on the nature of the violations that NIH has uncovered. Some 70% (133) of the researchers had failed to disclose to NIH the receipt of a foreign grant, and 54% had failed to disclose participation in a foreign talent program. In contrast, Lauer said, only 9% hid ties to a foreign company, and only 4% had an undisclosed foreign patent. Some 5% of cases involved a violation of NIH’s peer-review system.
Lauer said the fact that 82% of those being investigated are Asian “is not surprising” because “that’s who the Chinese target” in their foreign talent recruitment programs. Some 82% are men, and their median age is 56, with the youngest being 48 and the oldest 59. Slightly more than one-half had been an NIH peer reviewer in the past 2 years, and 41% of those under investigation (77 scientists) have been banned from further participation in NIH’s well-regarded system of vetting grant proposals.
NIH has been in the forefront of federal efforts to identify and block behavior that many U.S. government officials say poses a significant threat to the country’s economic well-being and to national security. Several bills pending in Congress seek to limit that threat in various ways, including by limiting the flow of scientific talent from China to the United States, and by restricting access to federally funded research that provides a foundation for cutting-edge technologies and new industries.
Lauer’s presentation also provided a glimpse into the scope of that broader investigation. There are 399 scientists “of possible concern” to NIH, he told the advisory council, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has fingered 30% (121) of them. An additional 44 have been flagged by...
Experts Disgraced Themselves By Prioritizing Woke Politics Over Public Health
COVID-19 has taken more than 98,000 American lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a tragic tally. And yet, so far it rates as a relatively mild contagion, along the lines of the 1968 flu virus, which killed 100,000 in the United States, or the 1957-1958 virus, which killed 116,000. In both of those earlier epidemics, of course, the population of the nation was much smaller.
The level of wokeness has been, well, bubonic. Some of that ostentatious political correctness was evident in February, when public health officials, led by the president of the “Woke Health Organization,” told us that the real danger from coronavirus was an upsurge in racism and xenophobia, against Asians or anyone else. Thus the initial dubbing of the malady as the “Wuhan virus” — in keeping with past practice, focusing on a bug’s geographic origins — was quickly canceled.
Here at American Renewal, I published a piece headlined, “How Wokeness Endangers Public Health.” As I put it, “The coronavirus will hopefully not be the worst pandemic, but it’s surely shaping up to be wokest pandemic.” At the time, I had no idea as to the lethality of the virus — and only an inkling as to the extremity of the wokeness.
In that piece, I quoted Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, who spoke for the new PC orthodoxy when she declared, “fighting coronavirus with travel bans is a mistake.” In other words, the most basic idea of public health — separating the pathogen from its potential targets — was not to be considered, because it violated the borderless ideology of John Lennon’s utopian ode:
Black Lives Matter Terrorists Cower After British Patriots Vow to Protect Monuments From Desecration
The mob is standing down.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is backing down after a group of British patriots have vowed to protect historical monuments from being desecrated by the anti-civilizational terror group.
BLM reportedly called off a rally on Saturday because they were scared that opposition would show up and stop them from committing their violent rampage.
“We want the protests to be a safe space for people to attend,” a post from the BLM LDN organisers said. “However, we don’t think it will be possible with people like them present.”
Patriotic groups, including heroic anti-Sharia demonstrator Tommy Robinson, have scheduled a “defend our memorials” event near Winston Churchill’s statue on Parliament Square. Churchill has been one of the cultural icons set for destruction by BLM as they emulate the tactics of ISIS in their war against Western Civilization.
Police claim they are ready to deal with any skirmishes that may result from a confrontation between the two groups.
“We are going into the summer period, which is always a challenging period in relation to to incidents and disorder,” said Martin Hewitt, who is the chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
“And of course now we do have the additional factor of the extraordinary movement of Black Lives Matter, and people’s feelings about inequality. So of course, when you put all of that together, that has the potential … to cause concern,” Hewitt added.
Police stood down while a Churchill monument was defaced by vandals, doing nothing to protect and serve while BLM terrorists waged war against Britain. Cops defend their inaction and weakness as being necessary to protect the public safety.
Somerset police chief constable Andy Marsh said: “There would have been a risk of violent confrontation and other criminal damage and a risk of significant disorder in...
Trump campaign manager says 300,000 people applied for president's upcoming rally
Hundreds of thousands of Trump supporters have applied to attend the president's first rally since early March amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale announced that 300,000 people applied to attend the president's upcoming rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is scheduled to take place on June 19 at the BOK Center.
"Trump #MAGA Rally in Tulsa is hottest ticket ever! Over 200K tickets already & it’s not even political season. Looking at a 2nd event in town to get more people to be w/@realDonaldTrump. Gonna be GREAT in the most open state in nation!" Parscale tweeted, though later correcting the tweet to note the uptick in applications.
To register for the rally, the president's campaign requires applicants to agree not to hold the Trump campaign, the convention center, or other parties affiliated with the rally legally responsible if they were to catch the novel coronavirus at the event.
"By clicking register below, you are acknowledging that an inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present," the disclaimer reads on the page. "By attending the Rally, you and any guests voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Donald J. Trump for President, Inc.; BOK Center; ASM Global; or any of their affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers liable for any illness or injury."
In reaction to the upcoming rally, Republican Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said his state can serve as a "national example" for the nation to reopen safely amid...
The 90 Miles Mystery Video: Nyctophilia Edition #319
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