Tying Up Some Loose Ends: Virus Narrative Aiders, Abetters and Tricksters?

[Piece of Mindful]: At the beginning of the Coronavirus hullabaloo in February 2020, many readers may actually recall watching various mainstream news segments featuring an American man named Frank Wucinski, with his young daughter. In interviews, Wucinski claimed he was in Wuhan— the reported epicenter of this alleged coronavirus — when the purported outbreak occurred, and that his father-in-law had recently passed from the coronavirus. It is unclear if he was visiting his wife’s family in Wuhan (as he mentioned in interviews), or living in Wuhan, as he also asserted he had been living there for the past 15 years. His LinkedIn profile reflects him working there for this period of time. It seems (as he stated in the aforementioned interviews) that he and his young daughter returned to the U.S. and were quarantined at an army base, while his wife stayed behind in Wuhan. Wucinski had set up a Go Fund Me account, raising nearly $18,000 for he and his family.

Returning to his LinkedIn profile, it states Frank Wucinski is currently Language Assessment Project Manager at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Crofton, Maryland, and that prior to working at CAL, he worked for the British Council (while stationed in China) as an Assessment Solutions Consultant. According to its Wikipedia listing, the British Council works in over 100 countries, “promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language,” and “encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational co-operation with the United Kingdom.” Apparently, the organization has been called a soft power extension of UK foreign policy, and is patronized by both the Queen of England and the Prince of Wales.

While at the British Council, Wucinski seems to have co-authored a paper with several individuals, including its lead presenter, Trevor Breakspear, focused on applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning to language processing technologies and second language assessment....<<<Read More>>>...