One possible alternative: perhaps schools could look at their data, figure out what makes students significantly more likely to graduate with good scores and healthily, take legal restrictions and historic imbalances into account (which will vary by state and type of school), then just specify those and use lottery system to select between candidates? Surely that would be much simpler for the schools and students alike?

This is an especially good question as Israel has no set definition of "mild" (unlike the UK, whose definition boils down to "not outright preventing usual daily activities" and unlike Penelope's location, which defines it as "fewer than 5 days in hospital"). Thus it would be necessary to look at sciencemag.org's source to find the definition of "mild" they're talking about. * - Israel does have a largely-set definition of "severe", primarily based on natural oxygenation level of below 90%, but some people in hospital with COVID don't meet that definition, so it doesn't give us much of a clue about how "mild" would be defined.

There was also a big poster outside the vaccination room listing all known contraindications (or potential contraindications), including but by no means restricted to the blood clot-related ones. People reporting these had a doctor check their records and ask further questions to determine the best approach. (I had this happen to me; I was in an all-Pfizer session, the doctor eventually advised I go ahead with extra monitoring (with my approval), I collapsed and needed oxygen for a few minutes during that monitoring phase, it was there ready for me so I didn't have to go to hospital, and we all decided that was sufficiently minor that I will have dose 2 as planned at the end of July, with the same measures).

The EU has approved the Pfizer jab for 12s and over, and Britain has approved the Janssen jab for adults (the 4th vaccine to get approved there).

Congratulations!

Given I stated "1 in 14700 people have reported tinnitus (new or aggravated) after receiving Pfizer, Moderna or OxfordAstrazeneca in the UK" immediately above the "1 in 7" stat you quoted, it didn't occur to me that anyone would read the 1 in 14700 and 1 in 7 stats as being for the same event. (Especially since none of the vaccines includes live COVID-19 virus).

The India variant now has a solid foothold in mainland Britain. A lot of people have been vaccinated with OxfordAstrazeneca (which, considering there is partial vaccine escape for that specific variant, is a problem), but a lot of others have been vaccinated with Pfizer (including most of the over-80s not in care homes, for sheer distribution reasons). It would not surprise me if the reopening stage due for next week turns out to be quite short. Apparently, adults are more likely to have mild/moderate side effects if they mix vaccine doses (e.g. OxfordAstrazeneca dose #1 and Pfizer dose #2) than if they have two of the same type (regardless of the type of vaccine involved).

I'd get everyone who visited tested just in case (unless they're already part of a regular test cycle e.g. due to being healthcare workers), but not worry overmuch. Exerting oneself in a house with COVID in the air is an issue (nothing about compression-only CPR makes it riskier than any other form of moderate exercise), but it is unlikely that anyone caught COVID from that interaction. And if they didn't catch it, the rest of the household won't.

1 in 14700 people have reported tinnitus (new or aggravated) after receiving Pfizer, Moderna or OxfordAstrazeneca in the UK (no mention of breakdowns between those vaccines) since vaccines for COVID-19 began to arrive. 1 in 7 reported tinnitus after receiving COVID-19 in the UK. COVID-19 appears a bigger risk for tinnitus than any of the officially recommended preventative measures for it. Also, it looks like OxfordAstrazeneca is effective against P.1 (Brazil), possibly has some of the additional mutations have more to do with the B.1.1.7 (Kent) variant which OxfordAstrazeneca is also successful at defending against, than the B.1.351 (South African) variant which OxfordAstrazeneca is famously not. Exact numbers for B.1.1.7/P.1, as well as the one I'm particularly worried about at this point (B.1.526 India) for which I've heard the dreaded words "partial vaccine escape", have not yet arrived.

The IFR probably was higher then than now, but not necessarily double-figures percent, because viruses often get weaker as they mutate for increased transmissibility (turns out, viruses can't be good at everything at once due to overloading the virus' energy-stealing capacity, so if they are going to infect targets with less energy to steal, they have to remove some of their other elements). The other complicating factor (that's beginning to be a factor again in some places) is hospital overloading. That causes deaths that are technically due to COVID-19 but actually due to healthcare that might have been taken for granted in other times in a given place not being available.

APA was last updated in October 2019, and is now on its 7th edition. MLA was last updated in April 2016 and is now on its 8th edition. However, not all places are guaranteed to use the latest version. You can still give DS either resource, just make sure to also tell him to check their course material for whichever method they want for their papers (it's not guaranteed to be the same one across the entire degree - MLA in particular is likely to update again before DS graduates) and follow that method when instructed.

You do have teaching experience. You probably call it "parenting". Ten-year-olds, alas, aren't generally aware of this, and think they are two separate jobs with no crossover. At high school level, lots of people who actively taught all the subjects to their homeschooled children become facilitators on a gradual basis. You're just starting certain elements of that process early out of necessity. Again, your 10-year-old is probably a bit young to have this explained to them. The "I don't see why I have to do hard work that was not previously required, expected or necessarily wanted from me," is another example of a 10-year-old being 10 and not yet having developed an adult's perspective on the same situation. It may take some time before full adjustment to different (higher) expectations is completed, and unfortunately it will require both of you to extend grace to each other. Encourage a good attitude... ...and train the Look that @Elliedescribes.

The Red Cross has items mentioning that men having more antibodies from COVID recovery on average than women (6th paragraph), as well as one indicating Asian people generate more antibodies from COVID recovery on average than white people. However, I've just seen an article that says the Red Cross has stopped collecting convaelescent plasma due to a randomised trial indicating there is no benefit from this sort of plasma for treating COVID-19.

There's been tens of millions of pounds' worth of detected fraudulent unemployment claims in the UK too, so it's no surprise that happened in the USA too. Technically, work search requirements were never suspended in the UK. However, the JobCentre's ability to monitor them was severely curtailed, especially given that a large proportion of jobseekers lost their access to the internet at about the same time as the JobCentre offices shut (because the libraries also shut, and many people weren't able to maintain their smartphones or landline internet connections - or never had them in the first place), and the phone line was shut the previous year. Also, there were so few vacancies that for most weeks, it was impossible for the average jobseeker to spend 35 hours productively searching for work. (For several weeks in a row, there were fewer than 10 vacancies total in a 90-minute travel range of me, for the keywords in my work search requirements, on the websites approved for me to search. Despite my being qualified in half-a-dozen different lines of work). So how were all these fraudulent claims detected? Some were spotted because there is a digital platform for recording the work search. While not as helpful as the Word document I was required to take to the JobCentre pre-COVID, it can tell a lot about what is going on. If, for example, "someone" just posted the same vacancy, in the same words, as 100 other accounts on a day, they're probably all fraudulent (either from the outset, or they were initially-honest but hacked later on). Others have been picked up as more JobCentre have been able to return to work. People who ask for additional assistance, get flagged up for something else (e.g. forgetting to update their monthly income) or are randomly chosen have for the past few months received a telephone appointment. Turns out it's harder to hide fraudulent activity during a conversation with a job advisor... Officially, unemployment is 4.9%, which is 1% higher than in the middle of the first lockdown this time last year. It's likely to get worse when extended business support ends in September, because furloughed people aren't counted as unemployed, and 1 in 9 people are currently furloughed. It's assumed that at least some of them will have no company to go back to in September, thus will become unemployed. Also, there are a lot of very part-time self-employed people out there (those whose combined self-employment and work search activities total at least 35 hours can get unemployment benefit if they would otherwise earn less than the unemployment figure). Vacancies are starting to appear for jobs other than teachers and doctors, but not many, and employers are able to be very picky. The only dishwasher job I've seen so far required 3 years' prior experience in the same job. For minimum wage, and a requirement to provide one's own transport due to public transport currently being limited in that pub's area. Jobs that display applicant counts are very uneven. Some who are being too demanding or badly-served by public transport struggle to get even 5 candidates. Some in the same line of work with vaguely reasonable requirements in the middle of towns are getting over 100 applicants.

It's tricky, because some people who have had COVID have, 4 weeks later, not enough antibodies to be distinguishable from people who never had it, while others have highly raised antibody levels. (The UK's Blood Service has had to put tests in to distinguish these, since convalescent plasma can be donated by people who still have raised antibodies for that point. It's at the point where women who weren't hospitalised with COVID aren't even allowed to apply, because they've found - anecdontally - a difference along gender lines about antibody reactivity to COVID). Presumably the people with highly raised antibodies 9+ months after infection are a subset of those for whom it was raised after 4 weeks, but it's not like one can assume one number will work for everyone who has recovered from COVID.

I found it odd when I was a primary school child and my school did this in the mid-1990s. (Of course, the alcohol was aimed at parents; the children got their own, much cheaper, fundraising raffle, that had a cheap age-appropriate prize for everyone). Children weren't involved in selling tickets for anything until the charity fundraisers of my mid-teens (and then, not alcohol or raffles involving any chance of not getting a prize).

The first time I read Lord of the Rings (at 14), I got about a third of the way through Fellowship of the Ring and realised I wasn't ready. Two years of maturity did me a lot of good in understanding the book. (Note that both of these happened before the first film was released). While the series is commonly done in upper middle school, there's also no harm in waiting if your family would benefit from it (there's enough literary quality that even a senior or college student can gain much from reading the books). Be prepared to slow down and help each other understand what is happening if anyone shows signs of stuckness. Listening to a good audiobook version with someone else - or even reading it with someone else - would probably have helped a lot. The Lord of the Ring movies (especially the first one, Fellowship of the Ring) would also be helpful for clarifying the plot, provided one does not depend on them for characterisation). They are also excellent from a cinematographic perspective, so are probably worth at least sampling to show how book-to-film conversions can work (as well as limitations both inherent and example-specific). Oddly, I still can't get through The Hobbit as a book. Don't touch The Hobbit movies with a 10-foot bargepole, even in the hope of clarifying the plotline. As far as I'm concerned, the music was the only good part of the first one in the trilogy, and the write-up for the others suggests there wasn't enough material to support the method Peter Jackson chose for telling those parts of the story. The Hobbit films are why Peter Jackson didn't get the rights to film The Silmarillion.

Thank you for this!

I got told today that blackberries are rare in Australia, but I'd advise against trying to change that due to the biosecurity rules.

The only problem I've heard reported (middle of England) was from someone who had no GP (and was homeless) at the time their age bracket opened up. I believe their keyworker made some sort of arrangement for them to go to a local mass vaccination site.

Warning! Long post alert! In no particular order, and with reference to the English system: First of all, I'd like to say there's an article from earlier this week (unfortunately I've lost the link) that says that some British schools have reported much improved discipline and learning from concentrating on the additional requirements due to staying safe in the pandemic imposed by government (social distancing, no shouting/loud noises in class, masks for non-exempt people above primary age, assigned areas at playtime so year groups can't mix and staggered lunch breaks). None of them are suggesting any specific one of these measures, or even the content of all of them together, is the cause. However, there is a suspicion that having a few clear rules, that are concrete, largely agreed, that are reliably enforced goes a lot further towards helping students have the discipline needed to learn than lots of half-enforced ones that have room for interpretation by everyone involved. Wherever possible, have students either keep their gadgets home, or a judgement-free handing in of them into reception for safekeeping at the start of the day on the understanding that they can collect them at the end of the day without consequence. (There are several situations where that's not feasible and alternatives will be needed. However, at the moment, the majority of schools report students tend to have mobile phones/tablets in use for non-educational purposes during class despite not being authorised. Attention divided is attention lost). Teach teachers how to gain - and deserve in the eyes of their students - respect. Nothing in all the masses of education writing seems to have anything useful to say about this, and without respect, students don't learn what the teacher intends. Don't create favourites, scapegoats or victims. (This handily encompasses getting rid of overt or secret -isms as well). Stop putting the least experienced teachers in the worst schools. (Parts of the UK system do this by design. It works about as well as you'd expect). Make it so that when bullying is reported, it is acted upon in a way that helps its victims and helps bullies learn not to bully others. Have an answer, as often as possible, to the question, "When will I ever use this knowledge?" Even if the honest answer is "On the exam you're only doing because the law requires us to put you in it." Students are more likely to (minimally) study things that won't help them if that's admitted, and unlike homeschools, there isn't always the option of simply skipping it... Teaching places need to teach how to teach effectively, not just how to do the paperwork or what theories people have had over the years about classroom management. I was quite shocked to discover my basic 120-hour TESOL (Teaching English as a Secondary or Other Language) course covers about the same material as a final-year English university module, and that if specialising in teaching English, there would probably only be one other module on teaching content (if choosing English one's specialist teaching subject, my alma mater requires a module on "realistic English" - in other words, the difference between English as it is used and academic English - as well as an option in how children acquire English as a first language, how people acquire second/other languages (that has the same content as the TESOL course I did), phonology (note: not phonics) or teaching creative fiction as theatre. There is also a subject enhancement course option for all major subjects, for teachers who but typically teachers either do none or one (so teachers are unlikely to do both Maths and English enhancement, unless they did one as their degree and took an enhancement in the other). Incidentally, the UK system requires people to specialise in Maths or English to teach those subjects, either by degree or subject enhancement... ...but only in secondary school. Teachers of under-11s are expected to be generalists. Decent PE/physical education and enough opportunities for students to move. It's surprising how many secondary schools think students can sit attentively for 6-8 hours a day if only they get 3 hours of intentional movement a week. Especially given how little intensity there often is in those 3 hours, and how inappropriate a lot of it is to the students in front of them (either because the teacher is teaching only to the best athlete in the class, or only to the worst). Give teachers enough paid time to do their paperwork, keep their teaching hours low enough that it's possible for them to complete it, and give them somewhere suitable in school to do it. (Maybe then there'd be less enthusiasm for giving children useless homework, thus giving children more energy to do the smaller-but-entirely-meaningful homework better). Make sure teachers get enough uninterrupted time in the middle of the day to eat lunch without rushing. Low blood sugar has made for many a miserable afternoon for teachers and their pupils alike. Stop insisting that 5-year-olds (the age of starting compulsory education in the UK) must do homework (beyond reading, and even that only if they are far enough into their reading tuition that they won't be guessing every other word). At least let small children learn how to handle a class workload before adding homework (however meaningful) to the mix... Teach all teachers (possibly excepting those specialising in the equivalent of high schoolers) how to teach phonics. Even assuming the best at phonics go to primary school and get all primary school children reading well (something far from happening today), immigration means that some secondary students learning English as a second language will need phonics English education as well (not all points of origin teach English, and some that do don't teach the same version of English, to the point where not all phonics rules in all contexts can be assumed). Less useless regulation. A requirement that doesn't help teachers teach in some way (be that directly, or something indirect like recording their class plans in a way that allows a substitute to take over if necessary) is not one they should have to field. Fund schools properly for whatever mandate they actually have (which is often wider than the official mandate - for example, many schools in poorer areas are effectively feeding and clothing a section of their classes due to severe poverty otherwise preventing those students from being able to learn). If there are going to be any red-tape excercises or "nice to haves", always ensure schools are funded to do them. If society would prefer someone else do part of schools' actual mandate, make sure that part of society is funded to do it and check it works before withdrawing it from the school. Easy access to methods of giving students additional support - be that the minor types every student occasionally needs, or more extensive varieties for disabled/gifted/2e children. Also, improve access to diagnostic, ongoing and transitional support for disabled/2e/at-risk-of-academic-failure children. More consistently good careers and college guidance for everybody (including teachers and support staff who have this as part of their remit). Schools should do pilots of school-wide schemes in part of the school before rolling them out school-wide, where this is feasible. This can save expensive and/or anti-learning surprises later. @daijabou, I think the Stanford set text is about how to talk to children about maths. This is very helpful... ...to those who know something about maths. This is of course why WTM places rhetoric (expressing subjects) after grammar and logic (the elements of subjects and how they link together, respectively). Stanford appears to be trying to do it the other way round, which does not seem like a promising course of action.

I would have thought sorting out homeschooling would be easier, if the anti-homeschooling part of the powers-that-be got it into their heads that homeschooling is legal in all 50 states for good reason. After all, at that point, there are typically only about 50 sets of rules, and if there was broad agreement on what counted as "good enough" homeschooling, those sets of rules would be fairly similar. Whereas public schooling will probably always be county-by-county.

Three trends I'm seeing (admittedly this is from the UK): - Schools "persuading" parents to "electively" homeschool to avoid an expulsion. Parents aren't always in a position to fight it, and those who despair of getting education in the system may conclude their child would learn more by playing on their computer all day than actually attending school. Such parents may or may not be in a position to actually teach anything, and they may still care about their child's education, but that doesn't mean their child is actually getting an education. (Yes, it's illegal, and no, that doesn't stop schools who are faced with children they deem too difficult to educate - usually either due to behaviour or disability). - Children being withdrawn due to chronic bullying or other serious safety concerns (this was increasing for at least 3 years prior to the pandemic). Again, parents may care about the child's education, but if they're not in a position to educate the child at home and the child's not ready to self-teach, no education will happen. Ordering the child back to school is useless because parents know that some children in that situation die, and that's not a risk this sort of family's willing to take. Aggravating this is a lack of support in how to de-school a child, or indeed the parents of such a child. - Parents who think getting an education (or at least, getting educated beyond a certain level - this tends to be more an issue in secondary school) is itself harmful to a child. Anti-intellectualism is on the rise, but there's a limit as to how anti-intellectual it's possible to be in the school system. If a parent thinks education is harmful, they're probably not going to educate a child they've removed from school.

A review message saying "I did this mod and it didn't work" is useful. After all, every recipe could potentially be someone's first, and some people really don't have a good sense of what substitutes work when. Downgrading the recipe because of this (in isolation) does not. Review the recipe as it stands, or be forgiving of it if that's not possible. Also, if possible to add information about substitutions without a scored rating, something that is programmable but may not be available on all cooking review sites, that would be ideal in this instance. Experimentation with recipes is a legitimate style, but sticking closely to recipes is a good style too, and a more advisable one for cooks that haven't yet developed their own personal sense of what "a pinch of this" or "a handful of that" means.

I'm super-late to commenting on this, but I think the researchers were trying to control for intrinsic motivation as much as possible. To me, this suggests it may have been an inadvertent "water is wet" test. One would expect that more reward is more motivating than less reward, especially for people who have been primed to hope the activity is fun. There's a place for "water is wet" tests in science, but it demonstrates that all research must be parsed carefully.