Liberals used to be fond of Voltaire’s quote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” But you don’t hear them quoting that line anymore. Free speech is only of value to them on their rise to power. Once they possess power, they seek to restrict speech. The same goes for “civility.” Out of power, they extol and practice incivility. But the moment they return to power they suddenly demand all incivility cease and give pious lectures about “unity.” The more government power liberals accrue, the more their claptrap about civility grows. In liberalism’s march through conservative institutions, such as the Catholic Church, “dissent” is highly prized until power is achieved, and then dissent is punished and forbidden. Yesterday’s theological dissenters are today’s Torquemadas. In the Clinton era, liberals’ desire to restrict conservative speech took the form of “civility commissions” and powwows about the dangers of talk radio and so forth. In the Biden era, liberalism’s censors can take a more direct approach and unleash Silicon Valley bullies to silence conservatives. Always an arm of the Democratic Party, Silicon Valley can now roll up its sleeves
LONDON (REUTERS) - Scientists are not fully confident that Covid-19 vaccines will work on a new variant of the coronavirus found in South Africa, ITV's political editor said on Monday (Jan 4), citing an unidentified scientific adviser to the British government. British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said earlier on Monday that he was incredibly worried about the new variant. Public Health England did not answer phone calls requesting comment on the report. "According to one of the government's scientific advisers, the reason for Matt Hancock's 'incredible worry' about the South African Covid-19 variant is that they are not as confident the vaccines will be as effective against it as they are for the UK's variant," ITV political editor Robert Peston said. Both Britain and South Africa have discovered new variants in the coronavirus in recent months that have driven a surge in case numbers. Scientists say the new South African variant is different from others circulating in the country because it has multiple mutations in the important "spike" protein that the virus uses to infect human cells. It has also been associated with a higher viral load, meaning a higher
THE HAGUE (AFP) - The EU's drug regulator met for the second time this week on Wednesday (Jan 6) to discuss whether to authorise Moderna's coronavirus jab as criticism mounts of the bloc's slow vaccine rollout. The approval of a second vaccine after Pfizer-BioNTech's got the green light in December would be a shot in the arm for Europe, which is lagging behind the United States, Britain and Israel. The Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency brought forward an initial meeting on Moderna's vaccine to Monday but it proved inconclusive, with the EMA calling for more information. "The meeting of EMA's human medicines committee to discuss Covid-19 vaccine Moderna has started. We will communicate the outcome," the EMA said on Twitter on Wednesday. The agency said Tuesday that "our experts are working hard to clarify all outstanding issues with the company". European Council chief Charles Michel said on Tuesday that the bloc could authorise its second vaccine "in the coming hours", adding that leaders would hold a virtual summit on the health crisis later this month. "Even if it's not certain, we hope that in the coming hours a second vaccine will
